Lucy's first snowball fight

I thought I would go for a walk by myself this afternoon. 

 

But Iain wanted to come along. He loves the snow--he's the only one who likes winter as much as I do. I like the pale afternoon light, the way the sun hangs low in the sky and the shadows stretch away from it. Iain just craves snow; he hates bright sunshine and heat, so winter in northeast England suits us both perfectly. We headed out with Lucy bundled up in the stroller and sloshed our way up to the colliery road. 

 

We hadn't brought a camera (or even my phone), so I couldn't take a photo of the snow-covered path we turned onto in the sunshine. Iain chose the way, and wanted to stop to make (and throw, of course) some snowballs. All the while we talked; Iain and I used to have regular 'explores' on Friday morning at the end of last school year, and I think we both miss it. (I know I do.)

 

It was a gorgeous afternoon. Lucy slept in the stroller...apart from one especially rude awakening, when she was caught between me and the snowball Iain threw at me. The snowball hit the stroller, just above Lucy's head, and showered snow on her. She disapproved, and made it clear that she wasn't happy to be awakened so abruptly,then promptly went back to sleep. Well, it isn't the last time one of her big brothers will throw a snowball in her general direction. 

 

We continued on, stopping to throw snowballs over the fence toward the pasture. The horses looked at us with rather bored expressions, as if we were the least interesting people they had seen all week. Never mind; we enjoyed ourselves. And as we neared the house, we found one last patch of snow-covered grass--not to be taken for granted so late in the day, with sunshine and temperatures well above freezing. Iain insisted on having a run around and throwing a couple more snowballs. 

 

Just as we crossed the street to go home, Iain said,'we had a lovely walk, didn't we?' indeed so.