Wishing Away Wisconsin

It's about the time of the year when I start daydreaming about warmer weather. Here in Wisconsin the fun holidays are over, our damp snow pants are smelly, my flaky skin is itchier than ever, and the only predictable thing about the weather is that it's totally unpredictable. I bet February & March in Wisconsin are similar to climbing the last leg of Mt. Everest. The end doesn't seem to be getting any closer, your lips are chapped beyond repair, and you fantasize about leaving your annoying tent-mates for dead in a snowdrift.

As proof the internet makes small, non-problem problems seem completely unbearable - two of my favorite photo life bloggers, Kelle Hampton & Rachel Devine, constantly share the most amazing photos of their adorably tanned children, playing on beaches and picking oranges straight from the tree, while swinging from a hammock in the middle of flipping January. It's more than I can handle. I want summer, I want it now, and I want it for 51 weeks a year. Christmas Eve to New Years Eve is all yours, Mother Nature.

Then I go outside.  I turn my pale face toward the sun and breathe in the cold air and remember there is a reason for this season. The long-drawn-out winter is a necessary part of the journey. The payoff comes in the spring when you make it through. And I realize that if I focus only on the itchy, smelly, unpredictable parts of the journey - I'll miss these...

Ice skating on the patio

Snowshoeing with Busta

Warming up inside


Happy Monday from the summit.