As the new year rolled in, I went out looking for angels, but divine messengers were thin on the ground, so I had to make one myself.

In case you were wondering, it’s not particularly easy to make a symmetrical snow angel while wearing snowshoes and a puffy snowsuit. But somehow I managed.

The winter hiking at Rocky Mountain National Park was very fine. We spotted some elk in the moraine valley, a bunch of bad boys foraging for food and soaking up the sun.

Deep in the woods, we found huge boulders plumped up with snow, like this one: a frosted Jabba the Hutt.

Usually, I begin the new year with upbeat resolutions, reflecting on the past year and making optimistic plans for the future. But after a year marked by loss and illness and grief, I feel vulnerable and bereft. I do have goals and plans, but everything seems provisional, tentative.

Yet I’m still here, moving forward, trudging through the snow. And I truly believe that 2016 will be a year of healing and connection. Happy New Year.