Freewrite "Winter Sports"

Winter sports

Today.
Listening to ice melt.
Slow bubbles burping up last November’s air.
But that’s ahead of myself.
A mud season sport.
Teasing of Springtime.

Winter sports

• Lying in bed while our newborn wiggles, squeaks, and spittles all over us.
• Dodging Covid.
• Endless bottles and bouncing in the wee hours with eyes crusted half-shut and mind in a stumbling fog.
• Navigating Covid logistics conversations in a partnership with very different needs and risk tolerance.
• Snow angels and fresh snow footprint painting.
• Falling on the ice in the trail heads parking lot with my 3 month old strapped to my chest. Grateful to fall to my side. Baby slept through the whole thing.
• Snow flake tasting.
• Ice shattering.
• Marathon cooking every meal for a breastfeeding partner in pandemic isolation.
• Ice design ogling.
• Diaper changing.
• Watching my partner hold tight or newborn as they plummet sled-ward toward the Connecticut River. My child’s first sled ride. My partner’s first in years.
• Walking and walking and walking to get my baby to sleep.
• Snow angels.
• Breast milk donor hunting.
• Walking on the frozen Connecticut with friends (yes, finally, friends) skipping ice patties on frozen water while my companions discuss how the mountains were formed.