Day 26: Gray Skies and Lemon Bars

It’s cold today – cold and dreary. And I say this not because that’s news – it’s Michigan in November after all – but because it just is. This coldness, this dreary weather, it wears on me. The chill in the air lingers long after I walk in the door and shrug off my coat and kick my boots in the general direction of the mudroom.

This weather makes me want to sleep.

It also makes me want to bake.

And so today on the way home I stopped for lemons.

Lemon bars have been on my brain lately – partly because the friend who is helping me out in the mornings by getting Pumpkin on the bus said she’d help in exchange for lemon bars. And partly because today was a day that needed something sweet, something cookie-like.

Freshly squeezed lemon juice, the sweetness of sugar, a buttery pastry crust. Sigh. I love lemon bars and I typically hate fruity desserts.

Baking is therapeutic for me – the very action of measuring, stirring, mixing, pouring. All of it soothes my soul.

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I threw a load of laundry in the washing machine while the lemon bars baked. I changed into clothes to spend time with the treadmill. When the bars were done, I barely let them cool before slicing a piece to sample, nearly burning my tongue.

Delicious.

Absolutely delicious.

I can’t make Michigan stop being winter. I can’t make the skies less dreary. But a little bit of lemon lightness makes the day a little brighter.