New Year

My friend has a cabin the mountains. My friend group has gotten in the habit of going there every year on New Years Day for a new years “refresh”. The cabin is at the top of a hill in a middle-of-nowhere town and there is no cell service. Only cars with 4 wheel drive can make it up the driveway.

In 2023 when we went, the weather was a perfect Fall day. This was extremely unusual for the region that time of year. There were leaves on the ground that we would rake up and jump into, we were all comfortable wearing our sweaters, and we would walk out to the quarry and throw rocks. The only car that year that made it to the top one the hill was a bright red Toyota Tacoma. We all joked that year that it felt like we were in a Toyota commercial.

In 2024 when we went up, it couldn’t have been more different. It was freezing cold. So much so that we spend most of the time inside the cabin huddled up by the fireplace, and our only trips outside seemed to be to collect more wood. After having been there for a few hours, it started snowing. There was no way a car would make it back down the driveway tonight. So, we stayed a bit longer than we planned to. The next day when the snow had melted away a bit, we made a trip down to the creek, which was frozen over, and walked around and on top of it until we couldn’t bear the cold anymore.

After this, we all joked about how when we came back in 2025, there would likely be perfect spring weather, and in 2026 it would be summer. We had no such luck.

What really struck me about this experience the most was that in 2023 and 2024, I experienced more change in my life than I had before or since. I moved states, started a new (very different) job, moved in with my boyfriend and got engaged. In hindsight, it feels like this unusual New Years weather from one year to another signified a change of seasons in my life. Each time I go to the cabin, it forces me to slow down, really look at the world, and prepare myself to take on another year.