shortened daylight hours, layers of clothes, securely tightened windows, and a constant eye to the weather channel. Just like the animals, we often put on a few extra pounds, become shut-in and lethargic.This year I've taken a different view of the season. I've decided to celebrate what many consider negatives and try turning them into positives. It's made a considerable difference and I'm experiencing hibernation jubilation.
I'm grateful for:
- Long nights so I can enjoy more candlelit hours. Whether lighting candles on my kitchen window sill for the enjoyment of commuters driving home
on Baxter Blvd. or whiffing the Frasier fir scent of my favorite Thymes candle glowing in the living room, lighting candles as the daylight hours shorten has brought a scented serenity to my home. This I will miss with longer days of light.- Having a stack of books that I know will be devoured during the "long" hiberius nights. I always read a David McCullough non-fiction during February. Last year my friends asked if I was still "in the Panama Canal" as I worked my way through PATH BETWEEN THE SEAS. It was a worthy trip. This year ," THE GREAT BRIDGE" is on deck. Anyone want to join me span the East River?
- Soup Suppers that are often and healthy. I've been developing a soup-a-week venue. In researching new recipes, my extensive, but often under utilized cookbook library is coming to life. You know a cookbook is just an ordinary book until it has food stains on its pages. I can hear the authors breathing. Hello James Beard, Fannie Farmer, Marion Cunningham, Julie Russo, Shelia Lukins, and my favorite, Bonnie Stewart Mickelson author of HOLLYHOCKS & RADISHES from Pickle Point Publishing (That's another story in itself.)
- Walking in the city and having all the sounds muffled by the snow.
- Wrapping a scarf around my neck every time I venture outside.
- Visiting museums and galleries to get out of the weather.
- X-country skiing for just an hour....anytime of day.
- Vintage hankies for when the sniffles set in.
- Beach walks, winter colors of white and gray, and huge moons.
"In the midst of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer."
Albert Camus
Hibernation is just what you make of it!
