I've delighted in the beauty of winter here, but I've also learned a lot about living well. I've learned how life-giving it is to work with the seasons, not against them. When winter comes, the HoneyRock community doesn't just continue with life as usual - we adapt. We turn the outdoor rock climbing wall into an ice climbing wall. We strap on snowshoes and listen to the satisfying crunch of snow underfoot. We learn about ice fishing on the frozen lake. We stand in the woods and feed black-capped chickadees from mittened hands. We shed our coats and mittens in freezing temperatures during sweaty, rowdy games of Broomball. We cross-country ski every day if we want to, and we read by the fire on those days that are just too cold to do anything else. We don’t wait for the conditions to improve in order to live fully in our present reality. Rather, we modify our outlook and routine to make the most of it. We embrace and respond to the season we're in, collaborating with it so that we can continue to be active, to learn, to grow, and to engage, no matter what time of year it is.

Embracing the winter isn’t always fun and games, though. It’s a choice, and I’ve seen people here at HoneyRock choose to meet moments of its inevitable inconvenience with grace. I remember a day when the grounds crew had groomed the cross country ski trails, only for a heavy snowfall to hit that night and obscure all of their hard work before anyone could enjoy it. This meant they had to go out and do it all over again the next day, and instead of groaning and rolling their eyes, they just took it in stride. They knew and accepted that they couldn't always predict or control the work required in a given day, which is only natural, but not often practiced in modern society. They didn’t feel betrayed when the weather didn't work in accordance with their plans, but faithfully got back out there and re-groomed the trails with a smile.