ANTICIPATION | Winter

The gifts autumn brought were the anticipated house-rattling thunderstorms, glorious sunsets, obligatory tire changes, and many celebrations, laughter, and comfort food. My living room furniture arrived, and it was worth the year-long wait! A total colour pallet change and I love it.

There were also unanticipated events, including a blood clot recurrence, poor reaction to antibiotics, cancelled travel plans, and a boundary-keeping friend break-up. There was also my delightfully unexpected participation in NaNoWriMo where I wrote over 50,000 words toward the completion of a story completely new to me!

We are now well into sweater and boot weather! Except for two anticipated trips to the airport (at the end of this month and March), I have zero intention of driving outside of town until April.

So far, winter looks like:

MOVEMENT and healthy choices are back to being a priority, as much as that’s possible. I got out of my healthy routine of the summer with the inconsistent rhythm of autumn. I got in the habit of listening to my body; I ate (mostly) right, drank tons of water, and got a lot of sleep; I went to the RMT, Chiropractor and have a new acupuncturist. Where I fell short was consistent movement. Much of that has to do with the excruciating pain in my left elbow, we’re doing all we can to fix it, but I’m currently stuck with lower-body exercises until I can use my left arm. I live in hope! I replaced the Crossropes I gave away to Cole, and will wait until I can use them. The rebounder is set up in the utility room. I bought a standing desk with a treadmill so that my hours spent writing can include more movement. Now I just have to get up when the alarm goes off on my phone, telling me to go move!

RECIPE PROJECT has been on the back burner (no pun!) for far too long, and now it’s time to start cooking! I regularly answer calls from my kids asking, “how do I make Mama rice?” or “how long do I cook chicken?” or “is baking soda the same as baking powder?” They all have different favourites, so I’m going to put together a collection - NOT AN EXHAUSTIVE ONE - of all of their comfort foods, those yummy dishes and treats I made them as they grew up - all of the complicated recipes, along with all the “cheater” favourites. Over winter, when I don’t mind the oven on full blast, I’ll make each recipe, take a photo, and collect everything into a format that will work for all of them. I figure I have to cook for myself anyway, so why not make all of my meals our family favourites - and maybe surprise them with a few of my own favourites we never ate because one or all four were too picky!

WRITE, the novel. On the autumn equinox (22 September 2022), I promised myself I would write a brand new story and hired a writing coach. I admit to getting a late start, but even at that, the characters did not stop talking to me all day and all night for weeks. Even though much of October was lost to health issues (and a wedding, Thanksgiving and Chloé’s graduation). I kept a notebook with me and created the characters and came up with a kernel of a story idea. I realized that I was spinning over the complicated publication process rather than focusing on actually having something to publish. I spent November at my desk writing until I couldn’t write anymore. I’m thrilled with the story and my progress toward my one great dream. It no longer matters if it gets published (though that would be lovely); it matters that I did what I set out to do, and did it the best way I could.

THEME FOR 2023 has to be determined. Will it be like previous years, or will I take a different approach? This is my conundrum every December. As I enter this ‘Two Year,’ how will it differ from my ‘One Year’? Will I choose a guiding word for a 15th year, and what will that word be? (ED: of course I will, and it’s BOLD.) What projects and practices will support how I want to show up in my life? How do I want to feel in 2023 and beyond? Will I continue writing here or just move everything over to SubStack? Will I continue to post “Hello Monday” and “TGIF” on Instagram? What creative projects will I keep? Which will I discover? What courses or teachers are inspiring me? How frustrating will the renovations be? (This winter includes two bathrooms and one laundry room, finishing the house’s interior.)

I anticipate the weather gods are right, and we’ll have a severe winter with lots of ice and snow. There is no bad weather, just bad clothing choices, right? To that end, I’ve purchased some good boots, coats, hats, and mitts, which I plan to wear a few times a week if only to go take a look at the Southampton harbour, only a few hundred feet from my home. There has been a noticeable difference in the weather lately, with the wind picking up and the temperature plummeting. The blustery gifts of winter have arrived! Though winter is the shortest season at 89 days (conversely, summer clocks in at 93 days - there is a very sciency explanation with talk of gravity, orbits, and such), it does feel like the longest.

Everything about winter is harsh, so I’ll take advantage and hunker down to use this time to hibernate. This is a time of feminine energy, specifically crone, and it greatly appeals to me. When I’m not focused on writing the novel, I’ll indulge in self-care with books, blankets, dogs, and a big pot of soup or cider on the stove at all times. Who knows, I might even figure out how to make bread, or at the very least, have some homemade tea biscuits on hand. And, of course, the highest form of self-care will be visiting with friends.

Lesson from the autumn to take with me: stop playing small and show up for your life, not just for others.