A season like gnome other! Week 15 of "15 Weeks of Friluftsliv"

We've made it through all 15 weeks of friluftsliv winter adventures. Time to welcome spring!

Welcome spring

We’ve made it! 15 Weeks of Friluftsliv and embracing winter. Thank you for joining us and inspiring us as we moved through the coldest and darkest weeks. We ventured out, gnome matter the weather, to honor the season and create the glow to warm us the whole way through.

In this final Week 15 issue of the newsletter, we’re reflecting on the season we’ve shared and the seasons ahead. We’d love to hear your thoughts! Before you read on for our final activity guide and recipe of the week, take a moment to tell us how these winter adventures moved you and where you’d like them to take you next. Click the button to share your thoughts.

Thank you for friluftsliving with us. This community of nature lovers and warmth-generators is like gnome other.

1. Parting words - Week 15 Activity Guide

As we say goodbye to winter, take some time to reflect on how the season has moved you. What has changed around you, how have you adapted, how will you move forward? This week’s activity is a quiet but powerful one.

Emerging from winter

Download this week’s activity guide and follow us on Friluftsliving Family Instagram (#15weeksoffriluftsliv).

2. Friluftsliv with a dash of forsythia — Recipe of the week

Forsythia is blooming! Time for a favorite recipe to toast the arrival of spring. Gather some forsythia blooms and create a simple syrup to use as your base in spring cocktails and mocktails.

This forsythia syrup recipe is our go-to with good foraging advice, too.

Once you’ve created your forsythia syrup, try it in this cocktail or add it to sparkling water for a nonalcoholic mocktail. Skål!

Friluftsliv 75

Ingredients:

1.5 oz gin

3/4 oz lemon juice

3/4 oz forsythia syrup (or to taste)

2 oz Champagne or sparkling wine

Optional sprig of forsythia to garnish

Instructions: Add gin, lemon juice, and syrup to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake, strain, and pour into a fluted or fun glass. Add champagne and optional garnish.

Tastes of spring

Toast to the winter we’ve shared, the spring to come, and the friluftsliv that gets us through it all.

4. Ways to gather

As warm spring days start popping up, it becomes easier to get outside. Shed those layers and enjoy the longer, brighter days. It’s also worth it to go out on those misty, rainy days too in hopes of hearing or spotting early spring amphibians re-emerging.

There are so many ways to welcome spring and mark this transition from winter. From simple walks, to neighborhood gatherings where you can serve this week’s forsythia syrup, to attending programs at your local nature organizations. These nature nonprofits need our support more than ever.

Here are a sampling of events and ways to welcome spring together over the next month.

Mark your calendar:

Raritan Headwaters Association 35th Annual Stream Cleanup on 4/12. Volunteer to clean up our rivers and streams, and protect essential water supplies across New Jersey’s Hunterdon, Morris, and Somerset counties.

BEAUtiful Farm Retreat on 4/27 for mothers, sisters, daughters.

Spring Star Gazing and International Dark Sky week 4/21.

Willowwood Lilac Party on 5/4.

Not local to NJ? Everything we host and share is something you can modify to do wherever you live.

5. See you next winter!

Thank you for another beautiful season of adventure, connection, friendship, and warmth outdoors. Wishing you a spring, summer, and fall filled with friluftsliv. And until we’re back again for next winter’s 15 Weeks of Friluftsliv, follow along at Friluftsliving Family for occasional updates.

Here’s to sharing ideas and getting outside with a “free-air-life” ethos, gnome matter the weather.

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