January seems to be passing unnoticed, by me. In less than a week I will herald in February, the shortest month on the calendar, and often the longest month of experience, for those of us who live in the parts of the northern hemisphere, where winter demands all of our strict attention.
I am settling into a kind of routine now, the days are getting a bit easier, and my bouts of intense grief are fewer and fewer as the days go by. I am still on the lookout for new activities, and volunteer work that might be a good fit.
It has been a busy day. I worked a bit on genealogy, a bit on the web site upgrade, and did a bit of reading. I have puttered around the house, switched mattresses around, vacuumed, washed laundry, dried laundry, put away laundry, sorted through linens, and swept floors. I have done a lot of filing, and even sat down to write in my new paper journal. I decided to write a paper journal, in addition to all my online writing, because it reminds me of my youth. There was a time in my life when I always had a pencil or pen in my hand, and carried pen and paper with me wherever I went. I write differently with pen and paper, although it is hard to describe just how. Still, I am enjoying the paper journal, and it feels good to practise cursive writing and printing again.
By my estimation it is about five weeks until March arrives. I disliked March intensely when we lived at the country house, because it was a month of full-on winter weather, with few signs of spring. Not so at Mist Cottage! March here brings milder temperatures, a lot less snow, and a lot of the snow melts away during the month of March. There are bouts of blustery, snowy days in March, but the severity and duration are not what they are in December, January, and February, or in March at the country house.
It has been sunny all day! I have been sitting in my easy chair, soaking in the sunshine. The wind is blowing out there, so I think it might be chilly to be out and walking around, but it is cozy here in Mist Cottage.
Worldly Distractions
Weather
-1°C
Date: 2:00 PM EST Friday 26 January 2018
Condition: Mostly Cloudy
Pressure: 103.3 kPa
Tendency: Falling
Temperature: -1.0°C
Dew point: -8.6°C
Humidity: 56%
Wind: SSE 13 km/h
Wind Chill: -5
Visibility: 24 km
Quote
“The best time to plant an oak tree was twenty-five years ago. The second best time is today.”
James Carville
Here it’s snowing and has been all day. I’ve shovelled a path from house to car and driven up and down the driveway to make a path, or at least one I can see. Everything is so white! and I have to drive to town to pick Emil up for the weekend. Glad it’s only snowing gently, not storming or blizzarding. You keep cosy, Ms. Girl! -Kate
I had paper journals when I was young (pre-computer). I loved writing in them. The thoughts I wrote down then seemed more permanent than the thoughts I write on the computer. We hit 50 degrees in Chicago. We’ve been going through freezing cold stretches followed by short thaws with higher temperatures. It’s really the perfect winter. I hope it continues. I also hope you find more groups and activities that you like.
Kate, I don’t envy you your snow! Glad it isn’t blizzarding on you, when you have an important journey to make! Enjoy your weekend with Emil! Keepin’ cosy here, hopin it’s cosy there!
Sandy, it is different isn’t it, writing with a pencil or pen, and typing on a computer, so much freedom with the pen! Here too we are getting cold snaps and thaws, which means that the snow doesn’t really become an overwhelming mass. Thanks re the groups, I am on a quest, it will take time, I’m on the job!
During the 10 years I spent in-between husbands, I started writing a pretty-much daily journal in notebooks. My handwriting has never been much good so it was not pretty to look at. But I found them cathartic since I’d been knocked around and thrown overboard by one husband, then the 10 years of the “dating scene” which were the wildest of my life, and then bookended by 2nd husband and a whole new life since then, in May it’ll be 32 years. That does not seem possible. But anyway, journaling is a good thing to have up your sleeve, I firmly believe.
Bex, I too find the had written journal cathartic, which I very much need right at the moment. There will be no dating scene for me, at this age, and I am not sure what the future could hold for me, Sometimes the universe is full of surprises though, I am hopeful there is a way of being for me out there somewhere. The journaling is something I can carry on with, and it is a comfort.