Two weeks of Holiday time with friends and family is a perfect end and beginning to the year. We went transatlantic to the tiny village of Sydling St. Nicholas in Dorset, England for the first week to spend time with the wonderful Buckland family. Although it rained every day (we saw the record broken for rainiest year ever in England) we were not deterred from some relaxing and inspiring jaunts into the countryside and seaside as well as some cozy, fireplace warmed evenings with great food and wine. We flew home and spent one night in our Brooklyn bed before driving through a slippery snowstorm to reach Strong Country in Mt. Holly, Vermont. Before leaving for England, the potential skiing looked bleak, but I watched in amazement as a Giant Nor’easter blew through the mountains and coated them with all they needed and then some. To ski the fresh powder I just drove through, I made a pilgrimage to the myth, the legend, the time-capsule Magic Mountain. This is the place to be for steeps and freshies in Vermont. Unfortunately, the only operational chair broke moments after arrival and we were turned away in sheer disappointment… Bromley and Okemo ended up satisfying my search for skiable snow and I even went Nordic for a day at Viking in the shadow of Magic. I had never cross country skied before and I loved it! It’s hard to believe that I spend so much mental energy on skiing and had never enjoyed the horizontal version.
The final stop on our tour was with the Taylors at my childhood home in Newton, Massachusetts. We spent time together every day growing up (maybe more time than we needed!) but these days shared time is rare. The siblings all live in different cities and have asymmetric schedules and family-in-law demands, so synchronized orbital alignment is always cherished. A few hours or days to catch up personally beyond phone calls and texts is required maintenance for any relationship and appreciated even more with loving family. These past two weeks surrounded by my favorite humans has been a constant reminder of how lucky I am.
Alaina and I also had the pleasure of sharing some exciting news with everyone: we are expecting a baby in July! The prospect of becoming parents is exciting (and terrifying!) but I know that we have the most supportive families to help us transition into this new world. I hope that we can foster a rich and joyful environment to grow up in and that our child someday feels the same way about his or her family that we do.