Thursday, or Thereabouts - January 7, 2016

Undoing Christmas

It seems to me that the entire month of January is consumed by undoing much of what was done in December.











From twinkling lights to festive tables;

from Christmas trees, both real and artificial, to crystal stars and crafted angels;

from candles and creche to shepherds and a trio of late magi (they only just arrived yesterday!);

from cookies to waistbands; all in their own way must give way to the new year.

Empty of the razzle dazzle that powered December days, a hodgepodge of resolutions

 - to do more, to do less; to be more, to be less - 

rush in to fill the void in life's fuel tank. 

January is just not fun!

But...

just for today,

in solidarity with our Eastern Orthodox brothers and sisters for whom this day is Christmas,

let there be one more rousing chorus of Hark the Herald Angels Sing!





In celebration with my daughter-in-law and her family,
        let there be one more lighting of the tree and the Christmas candle,

one more heart to heart and hand to hand.

Let there be one more

Merry Christmas!

Srećan Božić

Hristos se rodi

 ©2016 April Hoeller

Thursday, or Thereabouts - January 9, 2014

A Return to Regularly Scheduled Programming

Trying and very trying. That about sums up my stumbling yet well intentioned attempts to pick up where I left off before the Christmas Express roared through. Gone are the flashing lights and ringing bells, and the crossing barriers have been lifted but getting back to normal has eluded me. Normal includes the gym at least three times a week, regular meals and healthy snacks, along with serious backside in chair writing time.

Monday we awoke to a foot of fresh snow topped with a delightfully thin crisp layer of ice. No problem, we have a snow blower. Ah yes but the drive belt broke less than five minutes into the job, so my love and I had to clear the driveway the old fashioned way. Three hours later we had the job done - it's a long driveway and there are also the walkways and decks. Then we hauled the snowblower into the back of the 4 x 4 and took it to the mechanic.

Tuesday the much hyped polar vortex arrived. It was -26C (-15F) with a wicked wind chill (-40 C & F). I elected to stay indoors only to be serenaded by the siren call of the cookies trapped in the Christmas tins stacked up on the buffet in the dining room. I rescued far too many of them! And Wednesday was hijacked by a migraine (perhaps caused by the weather and too many cookies?). Later in the day when I was feeling much better, my good deed was to rescue a few more of those imprisoned cookies.

Today there is just a glimmer of normal. It's sunny, the -14C I awoke to has already risen to a toasty -10, AND here I sit writing my blog for Thursday. There is hope! But later I'm having a leisurely lunch with a friend, so no gym, no lengthy writing time.

I think it's time for Katie Scarlett O'Hara to step into the breach - Tomorrow is another day!

Cheers!

©2014 April Hoeller