Fresh starts

Today the Olympic Mountains were covered in blankets of fresh snow, and when the sun came up they glowed hot pink.  That was the sight I enjoyed, coffee in hand, from my living room window this morning.  With a cold, clear blue sky in Seattle today, it was impossible to picture the many days of gray and rain that await us this winter (or remember the ones that complicated last week).

It has turned cold tonight.  Got our covers on the spigots outside.  The water fountain is indoors for the season. Nobody runs the trash out to the can without a coat anymore.  It's the time of your when you come in from outside and you suddenly think how fortunate you are to have a warm home and a furnace that works. 

Our household is in "reset" mode after hosting our family Christmas festivities last week.  Byron headed back to the office today.  I'm trying to keep a stuffy nose from turning into something worse (and have acquire a nifty new humidifier to counteract the forced air heat).  Wyatt finally agreed to compost the gingerbread house.  And we actually forgot to turn on the Christmas tree lights for the first time tonight.  Today we planned a short getaway for New Years.  And Wyatt's birthday arrives in eight short days.

In a similar effort to begin the "reset" for our bodies following the delicious Solstice-Christmas Splurges, I cleaned out the fridge, dumped all the remaining candies and sweets into the garbage (in a moment of strength), and Wyatt and I headed to the store to load up on fresh veggies and fruit for eating and juicing.

Tomorrow I think we're going to fortify our holiday wind down with some endorphin-releasing, anxiety-decreasing fennel in our morning juice.  Our annual winter juicing regimen will commence to welcome the cold December sunshine with one of our favorite combinations:

Apple-Fennel-Celery Juice

2 stalks celery
1/2 large fennel bulb (fronds and root removed)
4 medium apples
ice cubes, optional

Using a juicer, juice all ingredients into a container.  Transfer the juice to a blender and blend with a few ice cubes to make it frothy. 

Serves at least two.