A Weekend Adventure

When you're little, vacation is such a big word. Yes I know there only 8 letters, but I mean big in the sense that it holds a lot of value. It might mean a few days off from school or a trip to somewhere new. You packed your days full of every activity you could think of. I am so glad I got to experience that.

When I was little, February school vacation meant a ski trip with my parents and sister and two other families. Three girls and four boys, all within four years of each other. We would go skiing, tubing, skating, swimming...

This weekend we all went back to the same resort that we used to visit. There was something different though. This time I wasn't trying to fill my time with activities, I was paying attention to how the snow looked on the trees, the smell of the fire, the sound of everyone laughing and talking. There were some new additions (boyfriends and girlfriends), which mixed things up a little.

At one point I was laying on the couch, while the boys were all out snowmobiling and the girls had just decided to take naps, and I listened to the complete silence in the house. I don't know if I notice silence more now because, with me living on a college campus in the middle of the city, I rarely hear it anymore. No matter, it was wonderful. It snowed a lot of the time we were up there. Not heavy, wet snow, but light, pretty snow. It was really peaceful.

I needed a weekend away with my family. There's been so much going on that it was relaxing just to go somewhere new. I could get my mind off things and just be happy. I could think about what I wanted to think about, not about how to respond to things. I don't know if that makes sense but it was helpful to me.