Smell

The other day as I walked out of church with one of my daughter's little friends, she said, "My mom and I are going to go outside and I'm going to smell today."

I thought this was a funny thing to say. The ground up here is still frozen and covered with snow, leaving only hints of frozen water to be smelled as the wind blows across the snow. But as she played on the sidewalk I opened my eyes to the drips of water gently falling off of the roof and the blue sky gently brushed with wisps of clouds.

She knew something I didn't. She had been paying attention; taking time to smell the changes of a slow spring happening around us.

I think I'll take the advice of the little girl today and go outside and just smell, allowing the fragrances to gently open my mind and allow me to be aware of where I am at that specific moment.

Foto Friday: Spring in Wyoming

"Frozen like a popsicle," is what my little girl likes to say when we open the door and head out into the cold. This week was no exception. On Tuesday we left and were gone for 3 1/2 hours to come home to a driveway covered in snow. As you can see, I got stuck. High centered, to be exact. Thankfully I had one bar on my cell phone and could call my husband to come and rescue me.

But living in any remote part of the world means you have to be prepared. I still had all of our snow gear in the car, and promptly got everyone dressed so we could walk up to the house. The snow came up at least knee high, at some places up to my waist. I couldn't carry both kids through this snow, and knowing my husband was on the way, I trudged through the snow up to the house to get the snow plow. My goal was to get the kids home.

Plowing my way to them, my husband got home to pull out our suburban and finish the daunting task of clearing out all of this new, extra snow.

In reverence to other conversations this week, I think if I had an Indian name it might be "One who pushes snow."

My March Madness

As I hear of other places where the temperature has risen to the point where the grass is greening and the buds on the trees are coming out, I can't help but look outside my window and see my six foot mound of snow. In fact, my lane, on both sides, has a continuous mound at least four feet tall. I can still cross country ski around our small pasture; which is a good thing, I guess.

But I'm ready for the spring cleansing to begin; to open my back door and let the fresh air move through my house; to hear the river water running.

Alas, there has to be some way to fix my situation, and I don't mean a plane ticket.

With a Jack Johnson radio station on Pandora- mixed with 311, Bob Marley, and Jason Marz- I think I'll put on my Bermuda shorts and my tank top with palm trees on it. Some flip flops and a pair of sunglasses will be needed. I'll make a smoothie with mango, banana, frozen blueberries and yogurt. I'm sure I have a little umbrella I can stick in it, a blue one. Then I'll turn up the heat, sit in my chair and read my book.

With an imagination like mine, I can be anywhere I want in seconds.

Foto Friday: Winter Sunset

Remarkable sunrises and sunsets are so much more vivid across white plains of snow. The vibrant colors are a feast for eyes accostomed to the monotones of winter. We were traveling over Togwotee Pass, which is breathtaking any time of the year, right as the sun slipped off to the west and illuminated the sky and the Tetons. It was one of those moments when you knew you were in the right place at the right time, and nothing else crossed your mind except for the picture in front of you.

Meatball Recipe

Getting the suggested amount of vegetables in my diet to have a healthy lifestyle has always been difficult. Mainly because I just don't really care for them. So like a little kid I have to sneak them into my own food. This week I made meatballs to go along with pasta (but forgot to take a picture).

I'm like my grandma and don't write down recipes. I should; but like her, I add something new every time. This time when I made meatballs and marinara sauce (made with vegetable juice) I chopped up fresh spinach and put it into the meat. The recipe went something like this:

1 lb hamburger
two handfuls of fresh spinach chopped up
garlic
onion
salt
pepper
thyme
a handful or two of crushed crackers

Mix everything together, brown in a skillet, once brown add to marinara sauce, bake in the oven at 350 degrees for approximately 45 min until sauce bubbles and meat is cooked through.

They were excellent; and had I not been the one to put the spinach in, I never would have known it was in there!