For the Grown-Ups

Go Outside Whatever the Weather

I like extremes. I’ve loved winters along the Canadian border and I love summers in central Texas. I love it when the inside of my nose freezes and I love it when it’s so hot the air feels like a mattress hitting me in the face.

It is winter now and as I sway in our deck hammock here in Austin, I recall our Vermont winters, venturing outside to chop wood in the bitter cold — and then persuading my children to bring a few more piles inside. This step was always key. If I gave them a specific reason to go outside, they generally (albeit reluctantly) bundled up and braved the cold, only to find that winter in Vermont was full of opportunities. Sledding down the backyard hill. Hiking in the trails around our house. Making a fort next to the garage. Waiting behind the big sugar maple, preparing to bean an unsuspecting brother with a snowball. The snow and the cold was an invitation, not a deterrent. It afforded unique opportunities, rather than denying them.

I want to always remember this. When it rains for days, when it is so hot I can barely breathe, when the fruit trees are thrashing in the wind, or when the stone path is glistening with ice — it is always an invitation. So whatever the weather in your part of the world, I invite you to go outside and find the unique opportunities that are waiting for you.