The View From Here

Winkie the cat and I have retired to the front of the house where the 50- year-old cast iron baseboard radiators, well--radiate, unlike the helpless burners beside my cubby at the rear of our home. Fourteen years ago we completed a renovation back there that required tearing out the old heating system and “modernizing” things. Hmmm, as so often is the case, “new and improved” isn’t always so. Let’s just say the fleece scarf I am currently wearing around my neck would be enhanced by the addition of a hat and gloves, and yes, I am inside. Sorry to say, dubious Yankee frugality does not allow adjustment to the self-timer on the thermostat--yet anyway (we can discuss this again in February).

While marginally warmer, relocating the laptop to the front of the house affords a lovely view of the rime building up between our inside storm windows and the original leaky glass panes--here “new and improved” might mean so--but replacements are a dream that will have to be packaged beside a successful business writing career.


 

Ah, the holidays. A skim of ice crusts on the pond down the street and the grass crunches under our feet. The car coughs and puffs white frost, failing to warm up during short trips to drop off at school, to the grocery store, the pharmacy. While there is no snow yet, the thermometer is doing it’s best to convince us that Christmas is only a week away. We however, start tomorrow on my side of the family which means, if I can get this blog post written and complete the last class in my grant writing program, a massive baking project for this afternoon. Holiday preparation is good fun but guilt inducing, as I attempt but fail to neglect Middle Passages, an outlet that many months ago felt a tad self-indulgent, but which has morphed into an essential part of my day.

Here’s an early resolution though. I’m proud of what I have accomplished over the last year, and pleased with my efforts over the past week. That said, for the next few days, I’m going to absolve myself of anguish if I can’t get everything done.

And, I’m going to put on a hat and bake a lot of cookies. If anything, rubbing my hands together over a hot stove may help to keep me warm.

What do you do to cope with the challenge of holiday stress?