Orange Citrus Spiced Hot Toddy

The one thing I appreciated most about living in Oklahoma was experiencing a variety of winters. Some years the weather stayed temperate, with very few sufferably cold days. Other years we endured intense ice storms, or even blizzards. I was once snowed in at my office for three whole days! You never knew what you were in for until winter was on your doorstep.

Orange Citrus Hot Toddy - IngredientOrange Citrus Hot Toddy - IngredientThis is our first year in Alaska, and the seasoned residents are telling us that we’ve had an unseasonably warm October. This time last year they had 10+ inches of snow on the ground. 

Over the last few days, frost has whitewashed the landscape, acting as a herald of what’s to come. The grass isn’t looking as green, and I’m starting to realize that I won’t be going out without a jacket for a long time. Gulp.

My favorite winter activities are many, but none really come close to enjoying a Hot Toddy and a Christmas movie when the weather just won’t allow much else. I missed out on that last year while I was pregnant with Margot. This year, I’ll gladly drink responsibly.

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Snow Lust

Nighttime Snowfall

I don’t care that it only snowed two inches, and that the snow has already melted away. My upbringing in Bakersfield, CA has left me eternally deprived of this wintry white stuff; that’s probably why anytime it sleets or snows, I clap with glee while repeatedly asking anyone around me if they’ve noticed it’s snowing.  Needless to say, I was outside taking photos from the moment the puffy, sluggish flakes fell from the sky over our neighborhood in the suburbs of Olympia, WA to the moment it all melted away.

Snowy EvergreensSnowRabbit TracksNeighborhood Snow Snowy Trail

Now that this beautiful scenery has returned to it’s normal, wet, evergreen status, I’m back inside, tapping my fingers in anticipation of another brief snow storm (which is tentatively scheduled in our 10-day forecast). If snow doesn’t show around Puget Sound again this year, then that’s fine too. This is all I need to sate my snow-lust until next year when the Army sends us to Alaska for a three year assignment.

Please remind me of this day of snow-day-giddiness when I’m stuck indoors in Fairbanks, Alaska for four months while the extreme winter weather rages on outside. Future me will need the perspective, I’m sure.

Snowy Evergreens Snow in Washington