It was -15 when I got up this morning. -31 with the wind chill.

I had a very romantic view of the West when I was a child, fueled by classic movies like How the West Was Won and episodes of The Big Valley. It was a wild, open place, full of space and freedom and adventure. I retained that image until I moved here, and still, the little kid that lives inside me believes that that West is somewhere I just haven’t looked yet.

My image of living in the West never encompassed slogging through icy streets to an office in a tall building in downtown Denver. But with a warm coat enveloping me like the arms of a bear, I can pretend I am a displaced Russian countess, which makes the cold slightly more bearable.

And knowing that there are places like this also ease the frigid winter winds.

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Anegada, British Virgin Islands.

Quote of the day: “ As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.” —  Nelson Mandela

Daily gratitudes:
My bear coat
Salmon
That I got my sidewalk shovelled
Sparkling sprinkling of snow at night
A morning bus nap