Little Luxuries in Winter

What are the little luxuries of your winter day?

Here are some little luxuries I am enjoying this winter:

The first thing I thought of was – getting into a pre-warmed bed at the end of the day. We bought a heated mattress pad a few years ago and I have enjoyed it most for what it does before I get into bed. I turn it on before I brush my teeth; the bed is toasty by the time I climb in and I turn the heat off (or way down).

There are little luxuries that are foods too: dark chocolate for breakfast, lemon curd or ginger preserves on toast for morning snack, beet noodles for salads or stir fries, a juicy orange for afternoon snack. I’ve learned to create a second round of luxury from the orange peel by chopping it up in my mini-food processor and letting it dry….having all the orange zest I want for soups and stir fries and salad dressings.

Hand and foot warmers. When I know I’m going to be out in the cold, I’ve come to appreciate the foot warmers on the bottom of my feet in my hiking boots and the hand warmers inside my gloves. They make photographing birds on winter mornings a lot more comfortable!

Seeing the sunrise is a luxurious way to begin the day – made easier by the long night/short days. Maybe I am channeling birds to think of this as a luxury; they always seem to be at their most vocal just before the sun comes up.