embracing winter

brett just posted an entry about me and my love for summer.

it's true. i love summer. i grew up on the top of a sandune that slipped it's toes into the cool waters of Lake Michigan. It only took 147 steps for me to poke my own toes into that same water. the beach would fill up every summer with the "summer people" and the town resounded with the sound of the flip flop of flip flops. b/c my mother could not always accompany me to the beach to sit on her towel with her bag of popcorn and wax-coated cup of diet coke, i was allowed to swim alone, as long as i stayed in front of the lifeguard. in the summers i lived in my bathing suit. at the end of the season i had to peel it off my body and spend an hour cleaning the tub of the sand that served as sort of my "second suit." living in a small town meant that my bike was my main mode of transport. i could get anywhere in ten minutes. my sisters worked in the local ice cream shop. my love of mint chip ice cream started there. the lighthouse was my castle, the beach my kingdom, the sun my source of energy. summer meant freedom. it meant no school. it meant hanging out with friends. it meant driving with bare feet and forgetting to pack shoes. it meant family vacations where we would test out new beaches and camp along shores and at the foot of mountains in New York. it meant sleeping in the pop up trailer and searching for bear caves...in my swimming suit. in my mind summer meant "sara."

i have always embraced summer with all of my energy. i swim, i beach, i bbq, i smile, i bike, i walk, i farmers market, i ice cream, i roll with the windows down and the tunes up. so, when the last leaf of fall hits the soon to be frosty earth i am left tired and lifeless. that is, i WAS left tired and lifeless until i met and married brett. brett does not allow me to be tired and lifeless anymore. you see, brett is a nelson. and the nelsons are a winter loving, sweater wearing, hot chocolate drinking, colorado living, skiing family of swedes whose feet are always burried in warm furry slippers. and i am now a nelson.

now winter means sledding. it means going for hikes through the snowy woods. it means spinning donuts in the car. now, the beach is for walking on a frozen lake. ludicrous. and now, winter means christmas in colorado with the nelsons.

last winter was my first official nelson christmas. red, white, and blue skis with brett's aunt's social security number ettched into them were strapped to my feet almost the moment i stepped off of the warm airplane. i rode up the chairlift, burrowed down into my coat, gritted my teeth, wiped the snot from my nose and turned around for my first decent down a colorado mountain. suddenly there was a moment of... clarity. the view blew some life back into me. i started to understand why those crazy nelsons love winter so much. that week i learned to love winter just a little bit more.

under dad nelson's careful eye and gentle instruction i soon stopped snowplowing and straightened out my skis a bit. i learned to embrace the cold rushing wind on my face as i flew somewhat out of control down, down, dooooowwwwwnnnn. mom nelson would warm me up when we arrived back at the homestead with a cup of her special blends. sister brookie nelson encouraged me on the slopes with straight white-teethed laughs and giggles. it's what those nelsons do best you know...give perfect white toothy grins. those grins could encourage anybody. that week i snowshoed, skiied, rode on a sleigh through a moonlit snow-covered valley, skied some more, and shivered a lot. i can't help it. i only weigh 107 pnds.

for those of you that know me, you may find it hard to believe that I hold even an ounce of love for winter in my heart. well, here's some proof. last winter brett and i arrived home from...i don't remember...probably some raging hip-hopping party somewhere...ummm...and he asked me to go for a walk. it was pouring snow outside and it was midnight. i said yes. we walked to the park, straight to the centre, and proceeded to make snow angels. that, and i'm looking forward to the nelson christmas and it's only september.

winter is still a hard eleven months for me. but, the cold of winter has started to warm a small part of my heart. -SN