“Perhaps I am a bear, or some hibernating animal, underneath, for the instinct to be half asleep all winter is so strong in me.”

-Anne Morrow Lindbergh, 1971

I’ve already mentioned how I feel about winter. I came across this quote and quite frankly, it describe me to a T. It is our instinct to go within and seek warmth. Because it is so dark and grey in the winter, we tend to turn within for that light. And what we find within is that need to cocoon. It gets stronger for me in the winter. And that’s fine. It brings me comfort. Which is why I welcomed the girl’s day off from school the other day. How comforting to stay warm underneath the blankets with our books and our kitties.

Until Charlotte’s friend called and asked us to go tobogganing. Unlike me, Charlotte feels absolutely no need to cocoon. And because I don’t want my daughters to dread winter the way I do, I concurred. Reluctantly. And when the time came for us to start getting ready, as in putting on a double pair of socks, a warmer sweater, snow pants, our jackets, hats, scarves, mittens, boots… OH, how I love summer where you just slip into a pair of shorts, a T, sandals and off we go! But, I digress. So, when the time came for us to get ready, I asked Charlotte if I could drop them off and come back home to my book. She wouldn’t have it. So I went along and made the best of it.

The “best of it” part is when we returned and I made us some hot chocolate. With Mexican chocolate from Oaxaca. To return some of that warmth and inner light that had been robbed by old-man winter. And the great thing about this chocolate is that it’s dark and already sweetened with sugar. Made especially for hot chocolate. Pour the milk into a pan, a little more than a cup per person. I used whole milk, for a richer and creamier hot chocolate. Add a disk of chocolate per person, heat on medium-low and stir every now and then until the chocolate has melted. Sip slowly while reading a good book and feel that inner light return!