My bare feet touched the cold pine boards of our bedroom floor in stark contrast to the warmth of our down covered bed. I quickly pulled on my fleece pants and top which I had strategically placed before jumping into bed the night before. This made them easy to find in the early morning darkness. I made sure the fleece pieces were right side out and laid in such a way that no additional time was needed for my limbs to enter. Our bedroom is heated, but when nighttime temperatures are single digit or below zero, the heat struggles to reach 60 degrees, usually 57-59. Perfect sleeping temperatures. The sun can quickly warm the room, but this past January, it was shy about appearing. If it did break free of the clouds, it was diffused through the Spruce trees.
Heat escapes out our very large bedroom window, but I've never wanted it covered, preferring to watch the ever changing world outside.
This morning, before strolling to the coffee pot, I twirled in place three times and speaking quietly, so I wouldn't wake my sleeping husband, I uttered “rabbit, rabbit, rabbit”.
February had finally arrived, bringing with it increased daylight and my hope for good luck.
The glow of Christmas lights was long past and my head cold, which arrived on New Year’s Day, had disappeared except for a lingering cough. The 31 days of January, at times, had felt 2 months long. Thankfully, along with January’s snow and cold came birthday celebrations and hockey.
BB's birthday ski included missing school and hotdogs!
The ice of the pond returned, leading me to think shoveling wouldn't be needed for a return to skating. What looked like solid ice, was in fact overflow produced by the weight of the snow forcing water to the surface. BB and Esme skated over the rough ice while I picked up hockey pucks embedded in snow banks the result of errant shots on goal. I had no luck retrieving a shovel and a goal that were solidly frozen in.
By mid-January, Bucky and I had a routine of having tea around 3:30 in the afternoon. It was a chance for me to pull a blanket around my feet and warm myself from both inside and out. Three nights a week, I’d also warm my dance clothes by the pellet stove, before stripping down in the heat to pull them on. How lucky we are not to have close neighbors! From any room in our house, I can look out through large windows without fear of others looking in. In January, when darkness arrives at 4:00, getting in my car at 6 o’clock to drive to town is hard, but it's been a habit for 40 plus years and I always return home feeling better for having gone.
Most of our children and grandchildren have played or are presently playing ice hockey. Bucky commented recently on how we've been watching kids play hockey for over 40 years. It's easy to watch hockey games knowing we're not responsible for transporting players to practices and games that start way too early in the morning and are played too far away, sometimes during winter blizzards. We can now share with our children, who are driving our grandchildren to games, the harrowing experiences we had of hitting black ice on I 89 or white knuckling it through the curves of Roxbury Mountain Road with them asleep in the back seat. Those "near death" experiences are never forgotten.
Quinn #7 is following in her sister Hana's footsteps with the C on her sweater this season.
Quinn
Levi wore #5 as a player and now coaches his daughters, BB #5 and Esme #7, like cousin Quinn.
BB
Esme
Ceremonial puck drop by BB with her cousin Quinn #7
The future!
Quinn, BB and Esme.
Burke's boys are also tearing up the ice from Connecticut to Canada. Bucky and I watch them using an app on my phone called Live Barn. We're able to screen mirror the games to our TV. It a great way to follow the action when games are played out of town, out of state and even out of country. However, we took the opportunity to watch Joseph and Justice play in a suburb of Montreal. Typical of Quebec in January, we were greeted at the border with bitterly cold and windy weather. Our many walks from the snow clogged parking lots to the rinks of Sportplexe Pierrefonds provided us with plenty of fresh air.
Burke and Joseph
Justice and the West Hartford Wolves
Bucky and I made the trip from the suburbs into Montreal's Chinatown. It was well worth the slipping and sliding on both the highway and the sidewalks. Due to poor weather, we were lucky to find a parking space right outside our favorite shop for buying duck. The barbecued pork we bought was also delicious and devoured before we were back at the hotel.
Our calendar still shows hockey for the month of February and into March, but Hana begins her lacrosse season soon. Thank goodness for artificial turf. I'm sure it will be April and possibly May before we'll feel the sun on our faces in the bleachers.
I recently took this photo and wanted to include it in this post. It has nothing to do with hockey nor do I know this couple, but it spoke to me in several ways. In it, I see a loving couple with compromised mobility sharing their day, not at the Sportplexe Pierrefonds, but in the frozen food aisle of Walmart. His Johnson Wool hunting coat tells me that he was and possibly still is an outdoorsman. I see a couple facing life and its trials together. It was a scene that made me thankful for my spouse and the fact that we were able to trudge through the slush of Montreal to buy a duck. Perhaps it's not what we're doing or where we're doing it, but more about who we're doing it with. Life with loved ones is indeed a luxury.
By mid-January, Bucky and I had a routine of having tea around 3:30 in the afternoon. It was a chance for me to pull a blanket around my feet and warm myself from both inside and out. Three nights a week, I’d also warm my dance clothes by the pellet stove, before stripping down in the heat to pull them on. How lucky we are not to have close neighbors! From any room in our house, I can look out through large windows without fear of others looking in. In January, when darkness arrives at 4:00, getting in my car at 6 o’clock to drive to town is hard, but it's been a habit for 40 plus years and I always return home feeling better for having gone._Original.jpeg)
