Cold

 It's been cold.  Now, I don't really mind the cold. I can layer up, or I can stay inside.  My preference is to go out and breathe in the crispness of the fresh air.   Lately it's been in the single digits in the morning.  That means I mostly walk alone.  Which is different and not necessarily worse or better, just different.  I'd rather go alone than skip my sunrise-greeting-prayer-filled-soul-feeding walk.  It's been such a part of me for so many years that I'm lost without it.  (And quite frankly, my energy level in the morning far surpasses my levels in the afternoon.  I start out ready and raring to go and gradually lose steam throughout the day.) 

I know that's weird to a lot of people, my wanting to be outside in the coldest sunrises of the year.  But for me it's just right.

Yesterday morning I didn't get up in time to go for a walk before yoga.  And now that I'm finally back and it feels safe enough to do so, I'm going to yoga.  Anyway, I missed my walk.  So in the afternoon, The Husband and I walked a bit.  I had a book to return to the library and that's a decent enough walk.  We ran into a friend on the trail and chatted for a bit. The sun was shining, neither of us was cold, I liked not having to wear a hat or earmuffs.   Another benefit of going in the afternoon is that it is a but slower of a walk. Nothing strenuous (that lack of energy thing) so I have plenty of breath to summarize a recently read book to The Husband.  It's fun to chat with him as we walk.  I'm still amazed that we can talk as much as we do after nearly 52 years. 

The creek over at the park was still quite frozen, but it still looked pretty from one of the bridges.

The shoes that I ordered 6 weeks ago and that it appeared FedEx had lost arrived yesterday.  That means a trip to City Creek to return them.  I was frankly astonished that they came at all.  If I ever have a choice, I'll avoid using FedEx for any shipping. 

Today's mail brought a check from the mortuary for the funeral I played at.  More money than I've received in the past, but I'm not complaining.  What fun to have a bit of money of my own.  

And speaking of mortuaries:  I keep looking for information regarding my sister's funeral.  Haven't seen anything yet.  My niece promised to keep me in the loop but I'm suspecting I've been "forgotten". That's ok.  I doubt I'd be welcome and I'm fine with that.  Relationships are hard.  And sometimes family relationships are the hardest of all.  And that's probably all I should say.

So I'm grateful that at least I was notified about my sister's passing.  I'm grateful for mail that brings surprise payments for services rendered.  (The service rendered was small, I never really expect payment so when it comes it's a delightful occurrence.) I'm grateful to be going for a bite to eat out this afternoon, and for something to look forward to next week.  I think we need a bigger something than a movie to look forward to...hhmm, I think we'll work on that.