All things light + heavy
Nearly two months have gone by since I’ve shared via email with you all, and sadly this doesn’t seem like it’ll make it’s way to you that way either. If you’re reading this just because you happened to peruse the blog, or because some future version of me finally shared it to your inbox, welcome. I’ve missed you.
The transition from fall to winter has been filled with plenty of ups+downs and, on my end, a challenge to puzzle our experience here into a picture that could somehow be described in words. A recent conversation reminded me that fragmented peeks into people’s worlds are sometimes even better than those that are well-rounded, so I thought I’d share with you the good and the bad rather than try to somehow reflect on the experience as a whole. Bear with me, this is a long one! Links to more concise blog posts throughout and below, as usual.
Things that feel light
Family and friends have begun scheming trips to visit us in 2022, and I’m hoping that a work trip involving a few days back in California may be on the horizon. Fingers crossed.
A delicious and delightful work adventure to Zurich, filled with scrumptious cocktails, great coffees and a youthful aesthetic.
The early days of snowfall always feel magical. Watching the hillsides turn from golden browns to bright white is a delight and brings back memories of our first days of knowing each other back at Colby during my first Maine winter. It’s been nearly 7 years since we first walked together, holding hands in the snow.
New good friends, tough love, nourishing advice and lunchtime dog walks.
Sesame bread in the dining hall during brunch, a flavor that feels just a bit like home. Tasting echoes of Beckman’s three seed sourdough or Bob’s sesame bagels.
A petite Christmas tree taking claim to a small corner of our apartment, bringing bits of cheer and light even on the coldest and darkest of evenings. The small pile of goodies sent from friends and family from across the globe, eagerly awaiting Christmas morning.
A new cosy Sheepskin rug purchased from a local Leysin shop that Obi has claimed as his.
Scheming new work projects with new and old work friends to create space for fulfillment and joy during the 9-5 that is typically 8-6.
Walks with Obi that stretch out into the late evening as he bounds past the front door and around the corner, desperate for another loop, more playtime, more snow sniffing. Calls home that carry me through the walks, feeling that loved ones are close even if they’re far away.
Freddy’s excitement about learning a new outdoors sport. His enthusiasm for skiing and confidence in the face of a challenge is inspiring.
A big pot of soup simmering on the stove as this letter is being written, preparing for a week of work adventures and covid booster shots.
Time spent, just the three of us, cozy on the couch while the light streams through the patio doorway, sipping tea from the pot my mom got me for Christmas last year and munching on cookies we snuck out of the dining hall. Happy together.
Things that feel heavy
The cold and the dark pair together into brisk days and long nights; Freddy delights in a midday run with Obi most days before he spends his afternoon and/or evening hard at work. I’m struggling with long work days spent indoors, just whips of sunlight making their way to my face as I sit at my desk, eyes locked on my computer screen
Ice. It’s quite literally very hard, especially when you hit it at speed while slipping and falling on your way walking to work, or the grocery store, or to a friend’s house, or to the ski lifts
My basil plant and green onion shoots are starting to struggle in the low winter light; the kale and chard I’ve has been picking all fall in the school garden is now buried under 3 feet of snow and ice. Green things are harder and harder to find even in the grocery store.
Maybe this is TMI? Obi hasn’t figured out how to do is business, so to speak, in the piles of snowdrift, resulting in a rather humorous episode of watching Freddy manhandle the dog through the small apartment and into the bathtub at least once, if not twice a day. To be determined if Obi is going on hunger strike to try to eliminate bath time.
Contracts for the 2022-23 school year are due January 15th, which gives us only a few more weeks to decide whether this place will be home for yet another year. Freddy is sold on Swiss mountain living and his delightful work set up; I’m a bit more nervous about signing on the dotted line for another go.
Cold toes. I really needs new snow boots.
Love from Leysin,
sbmc
