You never know what Mother Nature is going to dish up, despite what the forecast calls for.  But this weekend’s storm seemed about as certain as a forecast can get.  Rain turning into sleet turning into snow with high winds to follow.

Yet, in the middle of the day Saturday, it was about as beautiful and calm as early February can get.

While the Cowboy moved up a few appointments he had scheduled for Sunday/Monday .. I cleaned up around our place.  Put things away the kids had gotten out.  Made room once again in our workshop for the four wheeler.  And looked for a way to take care of the burn pile that had once again been stacking up before it was buried in snow.

Most of it being boxes that had until now, held all of my boots off-season.

As we continue to look for creative ways to fit all of our collective belongings into a very small ranch home with little storage .. the Cowboy asked me the other week, why I was keeping them.  I, of course, let him know why adding that if I ever decide to put a pair on eBay, then I have the original packaging to send them in.

“You don’t need to keep those,” he encouraged me to give them up in the name of more space for other things.  He’s was right.

Instead of heading off to do other chores or back inside, I grabbed a glass of wine and sat awhile on a log next to the fire-pit.  It felt cathartic in some ways.  Watching.  Taking a deep breath.  Seeing more clutter disappear out of the house and our lives.  And as I watched the pile burn ..

I was enjoying the time I had to just be still and appreciating how quiet it was, that the only sounds around me were that of the crackling fire and a gentle wind.  They were some pretty simple moments, moments we don’t often take.

But they were moments yesterday, that allowed me to reflect back on the trip I took to Austin, TX.  A pivotal point in my life in recent years.  Where I bought the most awesome pair of boots that had been in the last box to burn.  (the boots weren’t in the burning box, to clarify.)

And I couldn’t help but smile to think of the decisions in my life to come out of that trip, and the path those boots have been on since.