Taking time out to get outdoors is an important part of winter appreciation. Here’s a great chance to enjoy winter with others who are ready to celebrate it too! Make some happy winter memories 🙂 Get out while the sun is high, when the snow sparkles and you can see shadows, while things are bright… or take a candlelit ski, and enjoy the age-old magic of fires providing light, as you get close to the darkness of winter. (See my preceding post for more on winter and darkness.) Here are a few links providing examples of how to enjoy winter this weekend:

Winterfest with the Urban Ecology Center, Sunday, Milwaukee http://urbanecologycenter.org/index.php?option=com_serviceu&view=event&id=6085&Itemid=191 (For some images of a past version, see: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.288574494531200.71878.136469736408344&type=3)

Winter Carnival at Schlitz Audubon Nature Center, Milwaukee County, Sunday

Winterfest in Green Bay, Saturday http://www.onbroadway.org/winterfest

Winterfest in Beloit, Saturday http://www.visitbeloit.com/events/calendar_event?event_id=2005

Eagle Days at 1000 Islands Nature Center in Fox Cities, Saturday http://www.1000islandsenvironmentalcenter.org/pages/eagle-days-2014.html

Check out http://www.wisconsintrails.com/travel/candlelight-events-warm-wisconsins-winter-b99184030z1-240863361.html for mentions of candlelit ski/hike events at Kettle Moraine, Point Beach, and Governor Dodge State Park.

And starting next week, the national snow sculpting competition, held in Lake Geneva: http://www.lakegenevawi.com/Events/EventDetails.aspx?id=2808 I enjoyed the snow sculptures at Racine’s Big Chill once again – here’s another chance to see sculptors at work!