Our first winter at Cantrell Creek has officially thawed, and spring is beginning to emerge through native blooms. Our expectations for the renovation of our home and property during the cold season were small. Our progress seemed to reflect the outdoor landscape: frozen. But with any creek, appearances can be deceiving - unable to reveal that beneath the ice, the water is still flowing.
The winter was full of unexpected moments that brought joy wrapped in warmth and beauty. We had the opportunity to experience creation dancing as the Aurora Borealis made its appearance- not only once, but twice - a dream come true.
A trip to Kansas City, MO to spend the holiday weekend with my sister and her husband reminded us of the importance of gathering together. Her love language is represented in her cooking and her attention to detail sets the ambiance for an amazing atmosphere filled with laughter, great food, and most of all family.
The simplicity of watching our neighbors enjoy the fruits of winter was a good reminder to embrace the season and experience everything it has to offer- sledding and ice skating the old-fashioned way.
We took the opportunity winter provided to recalibrate our vision and goals, remembering what brought us here. Our paradigm has changed, our minds are renewing, and the requirements and processes must shift with each season we find ourselves in. They don't remain the same, and neither do we.
Winter became a season of rekindling- reminding us that we don't rush our process. It's in the renewing and rebuilding that sustainability is achieved
This Christmas, Dustin taught me to fly fish. Together 19 years, and this was the year I embraced learning the art of casting.
By January, I finally netted my first trout at Bennett Spring. Dustin, acting as my guide, corrected and stayed patient as I learned the process- getting it wrong a lot, but finally landing both the concept and the fish.
Learning a process isn't always the fast progress we want to experience, but what we want and what we need are often two different things. Accepting this with patience is part of the equation. Accepting, receiving, and applying is how we are moving forward- slow and steady, until we are strengthened enough to run and able to jump when needed. Until that moment, we consider this our opportunity to train our minds and condition our bodies for the next season.
While still learning how to cast (and properly hold a trout- Dustin said I was strangling the poor fella, I'm sorry, fish), I did manage to catch another one at Lake Taneycomo in Branson, MO, bringing my total so far to 3 trout. Dustin, of course- we lost count of his keepers.
As winter began to thaw, we added on addition to our family. At 5:00 am on Valentine's Day, a rescue mission was underway for a calico bobtail kitten at a gas station. It was a downpour in the middle of a winter thunderstorm, and we heard cries coming from underneath an employee's car. Forty five minutes later, drenched from head to toe, we finally captured the baby kitten and brought her home.
Meet Meowentine- properly named for finding her on Valentine's Day.
Our full-time jobs demanded more attention from us this winter, but we did manage to relocate a bit inside the home. Dustin built a pantry to replace what was there previously. We've decided to extend the bathroom wall, add pocket doors for both the bathroom and second bedroom, and eliminate the hallway closet to make room for built-in shelves and a bench outside the bathroom.
The pantry trim will eventually encase the sliding doors, hiding the tacks and providing a cleaner finish. The trim is already built and ready to install after the bathroom demo is complete. Even indoors, the season still carried its own kinds of rebuilding.
The thaw has begun.
Not all at once, and not without process- but steadily, intentionally, and right one time. What winter refined, spring will now begin to reveal.
