Nature's Beauty

Sometimes I can’t help but be overwhelmed by the beauty and perfection of nature. While in Vermont over President's day with 9 of my friends for a long weekend of skiing, eating, and relaxing, I (we) got a hearty dose of nature at its finest (well, finer than I’ve ever seen it). If you know me, my friends, or have read about any of our adventures, you will not be surprised to learn that we didn’t go the conventional routes of hotels, ski lodges, or any of that jazz for our lodging. Oh no, we rented a house from a couple on Craigslist. And not just any house- an old school farm house with its very own barn, horses, and chickens. Sleeping the 10 of us comfortably (ie, 9 of us in beds and one on a couch). In the middle of nowhere. It was amazing.

Given that we arrived at midnight after taking a train out of the city to New Haven and then driving a rental car the remaining 5 hours, we had an inkling of our remote location, what with the 30 minutes we had to drive on windy country roads once we were off of the highway. But to wake up and look out the window and see pristine, untouched snow as far as the eye can see? Wow. It’s this truly unique feeling to drive for miles and not pass another car, to see only moose tracks in an otherwise smooth field of recently fallen snow. Observe icicles hanging from roofs that nearly reach the ground. Never drive through a town that has a traffic light. Breathe air that is so crisp and cold that it instantly freezes any moisture in your nostrils and clears your lungs of the city infested muck and grime. Look up in the evening sky and see more stars than you knew existed. All this, and surrounded by friends for days on end. It’s much more than I deserve and certainly much more than I can probably even truly appreciate all at once. But in my own simple and incomplete way, I am grateful to have had that time and that place.