January

And now let us welcome a new year - full of things that have never been

Happy 2020! I suspect you'd be hard-pressed to find a New Englander that rates January as one of their favorite months of the year. December wraps New England in 'warmer temps', dustings of snow and the cozy comfort of the holidays, while January is as icy and miserable as Winter can get. This is not to say 'Spring' in New England can't also be miserable too but it's not as likely when the calendar ticks over to April.

January falls tenth in my ranking of calendar months of the year (it beats out April and May) but I do love January for its fresh start feel. It's the beginning of a new year, the days are getting longer and the light is lingering later. The circle of life, however slight it may seem, is beginning anew. 

Kicked off 2020 travels with a ski day at Mt. Sunapee in NH. Mt. Sunapee is an hour and thirty minutes from our house in Stoneham, MA, making it an ideal distance for a day trip. This is the main reason that we have been choosing to buy Epic Local Passes for the last few ski seasons. When Vail Resorts bought Mt. Sunapee it became a no-brainer.

It being Sunday and the end of what was, for most, a two week break from daily life, it was an easy drive up and back and was relatively quiet on the mountain. Characteristically, it was mostly cloudy with breaks of sun, a chilly wind and icy snow on the trails. Gorgeous light with a dusting of last night's snow on the evergreen trees.

My legs were toast after yesterday's barre class so I took it easy with green and blue trails and plenty of breaks in the lodge to warm up my toes.

Capped off a few hours of skiing with lunch at Salt hill Pub in Newbury, NH. There's a Salt hill in Hanover so we knew it was a great spot for a delicious Ruben sandwich.

Back to regularly scheduled programming tomorrow but will leave you with a classic by Robert Frost inspired by the 'dust of snow' on the New Hampshire trees.

The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree

Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.