Outside my window

Do you have any secret indulgences? (Please note: If they're dirty, I don't wanna hear about em! ha) I do. There's a certain quiet time, early in the morning, when the dog is asleep and Captain J has already left to go to work. I like to sit at my kitchen table that is nestled beside a big window and look out into our yard and just think. Being busy and productive is slightly over-rated in my book. I'd much rather ponder if birds understand each other's chirps or if the Mona Lisa really was da Vinci's face. Kidding. But I do look outside and wonder what my loved ones are doing at this exact moment.

While most of the trees are dead and crumbling, the snow has freshly fallen. It's the ultimate oxymoron. My yard is dead yet alive with the glimmer of hope that spring is on it's way. To a southern girl, who rarely ever got any snowfall, the white blankets are still magical. It's as if anything could happen, the world is my playground. Today, I sit here and wonder, what are my friends up to? Some of you are working, some of you are walking around campus enjoying the warm weather, and some of you are probably cat napping. Then I wonder where each family member is. What are they thinking right now? Do they know how much I wish I could see them? I feel a million miles away right now.

As I type, tears are forming. They're not happy, but not sad either. Just indifferent. I love life up here with my husband and new puppy, but I'd give almost anything for a knock on the door from someone who knows me, someone who misses me, too.

I look outside, though and no one is there. I'm just surrounded by the tall, skinny pine trees that have come to be characteristic of my home here. Pretty soon they'll green up, the grass will reveal itself once more, and I'll be able to enjoy much, much longer days in the land of the Midnight Sun. My whole view outside this picture window will change, but one thing will remain--I sure wish my family could see it, too.

I miss you all.