January is half gone, and I suppose I’ve settled back into my usual winter time routine. There’s work (and lots more of it than usual for this half of the family), rehearsals for various and sundry musical things, playing indoor games with the dogs since it’s so difficult to get a decent walk in these days (hide and seek is the current favorite). My guilty pleasure TV show is back on, and so are some of my favorite dramas.
Although I don’t really like winter, I like the way it gives me good reasons to hibernate. There must be a bit of grizzly in me, because I love nothing better than digging in during these long winter nights, pulling on my fleecy pants and flannel shirts, making hearty soups, stews, and casseroles for dinner, brewing pots of strong, dark coffee. We see the sun about once a week on average around here and on the other days the sky is do heavily leaden with clouds, I fear it will fall on my head if I venture outside. So when I do have to emerge from the cave, especially for errands and trips to the store for essentially boring items, I have a tendency to become as cross and cranky as any ol’ black ba’ar.
A lot more writing happens in winter. After quite a lapse, I’ve gotten back into the habit of doing morning pages, and I’m once again amazed at they way this exercise jumpstarts the creative process, so I sometimed end up with three pages of ideas for things I want to write about ~ when I have the time, of course.
A lot more reading gets done in winter, too. Although so far this year I’ve been enmeshed in a huge potboiler of a novel, which I started before we left Florida, and finally finished just today. (Well, it was 674 pages long!) But now I expect to start flying through the bookstack that’s been waiting patiently for me, starting with Lit, the latest installment in Mary Karr’s memoir-able life, which I picked up from the library today. I have to read it quickly, because apparently it’s in “great demand” and I have it on loan for 10 days only.
I’ve been trying to keep up the exercise program too, and now that I’ve found a series of workouts I can do at home I’m lots more successful in making a habit of exercise. Going out to a gym is just not my thing – especially in winter. (My friend M. has been going to Curves three times a week at 7:00 a.m. for the past four years! Can’t imagine doing that…)
Life has settled into it’s normal routine here chez Becca. I’m appreciative of normal, especially when confronted with news of horrendous disasters like the Haitian earthquake. I’m happy to be settled in my old house here where the earth, though cold and frozen, stands perfectly still every day.
How about you? Are you all settled into the new year?
Becca's Byline 
The new year is finding me hibernating, letting the house fold around me in a most comforting way.
I’ve been watching the news – in small bits and pieces in case it gets too overwhelming – and being thankful the earth hasn’t moved so dramatically here. In California we’re aware of these things. My heart aches for Haiti.
Not settled, but settling. Not a single chore I wanted to complete by the first week of January is done, and we’re halfway through!
The freezing weather was a distraction, of course – haul plants, wrap pipes, protect critters, and then undo it all – but being housebound ought to have led to more cmopleted chores. Instead, it seems all any of us did was fixate on the weather and stare at thermometers like idiots.
But the sun is shining, it appears I’ll have my first good work week of the year and by the end of the day I may have the pile of scrap paper sitting on my desk dealt with. It all feels so “normal” – and like you, I’ve developed a great appreciation for “normal” and “ordinary”.
Yes, I’m all settled in to the year and loving it. I like January for its cold and snow and short days, with the inclination to stay comfortably indoors and write, write. It’s amazing how much writing time the holidays absorb, so it’s wonderful to get back into a steady routine 🙂
Hi, Becca — back from my conference and glad to check in with you again! I know what you mean about settling in — that’s my winter mode (though I didn’t expect to be forced to do so with the flu upon my return!) Flannel shirts, soup…works for me.
Becca,
I’ve been walking with Leslie Sansone for years. My problem is that I’m not consistent. I think almost anything works if you do it every day. I’m not a gym person either. I’d never make it out the door after the first day. You have to know yourself and find the right thing for you. Isn’t that always the way?
I love these cold months. They give us time to focus on indoor projects that we never have the time for during warmer weather, and there’s a lot of grizzly in me. I love the excuse to stay inside and fuss around. Enjoy your hibernating, Becca.
Bella