Hello, New Year ... My Name is Zoë

Much like my various Facebook friends who have posted about bringing in the new year, I am unsure how best to do so. With hope, that change is a-foot? With figurative middle fingers blazing towards 2020 and its drama and death? Or with dread, knowing that the world cannot and will not right itself so quickly?

So, I decided to take a risk for new year's eve this year. These days it's all about gauging risk, right? Should I visit indoors with that friend who had COVID last month, since she's hypothetically immune for at least a little while; go shopping or pay more to do so online to avoid being in indoor spaces with others; visit family; do ANYthing resembling pre-COVID normal. 

Anyway, I decided to take a risk with a friend of mine who still has to work in an office a few days a week. We rented a cabin in West Virginia on the northwest side of Monongahela National Forest and stayed four nights, venturing out each day to explore different parks and short hikes of the area. The weather cooperated mostly, and we were decently enough prepared with warm clothes, boots, and yak-traks for the icy parts. 

It was a lovely get-away! Winter in the Appalachians is beautiful and treacherous and remote. We never got stuck in snow or skidded too hard on ice, but did turn around a few times when the way forward seemed ... well, risky. Jacques allowed me to put on his jacket and booties with minimal fuss and did just fine on the cold ground, trotting along and slipping and sliding with us gamely.

One day trip that was particularly interesting was a visit to the Cranberry Glades Botanical Area, a boggy area of the type to normally be found further north - like, in Canada. In the snow and ice, it was a strange flat-ish area with an icy boardwalk through it, low scraggly plants covering what seemed to be water but was more likely really wet and partially frozen peat. Though pretty in its own way, the interesting wildlife and flowers there were all in hibernation or hiding. After we finished the boardwalk loop through strange scenery, we had lunch on the truck's tailgate. 

Aside from driving to various trailheads and hikes, we enjoyed chatting and catching up. This is a friend I've known since my Air Force days in Montana. We have a comfortable camaraderie built up over the years, able to easily fall in and out of conversation on just about any topic. I brought along Wingspan, a board game created by bird enthusiasts and ornithologists. We learned to play it together and admired the art on the cards and, eventually, the flow of the game. We turned on the gas fireplace, we cooked, we read books.

For New Year's Eve day, which was rainy and icy and cold, we spent the first half lazing about the cabin. I
did some studying, he did some reading. We played Wingspan, made French toast for breakfast. In the afternoon we ventured out to walk in a nearby recreation area which turned out to be just right: muddy but not mucky, drizzly but manageable. Jacques enjoyed some off-leash time. We tried venturing higher up the mountain but were stopped by icy roads covered in cold rain. Once back at the cabin we watched some tv, snacked, talked, and kept eachother awake until midnight. Then, I did my party trick of opening our bottle of bubbly with a kitchen knife, we each drank a mimosa, and finally trailed off to sleep as fog and rain surrounded us. 

In short, my New Year's Eve week was relaxed and in a new place and with a good friend. I feel like that was a great way to bring in the new year, with the things that will surely get me happily through 2021.