I often say that I hate winter, and I really shouldn’t say that. I hate the darkness, I hate the frigid cold. I hate waking up in the morning and the room is completely dark and it’s so cold I don’t want to leave the inviting down comforter nor the steamy shower. I hate all that. I hate slush. Slush, I believe, is one of the highest causes of murders in Wisconsin. I haven’t gotten scientific proof on this, but I’m certain this is true. Also, Slush’s partner in crime Road Salt also is not my favorite. God, you should see what it’s doing to my floormats in my car. I don’t even want to think about the rust factor.
But post-solstice winter (note the qualifier there!) has it’s nice points too. Much in the way that this is a renewal time for the earth, it becomes a renewal time for myself as well. At this point (late February), I’ve gone through the hibernation stages (I won’t even begin to talk about my Sims addiction) and have lapsed into the creative phase which always follows my dormant slug stage. Right now, I’m bursting with different things I want to engage in. There’s scrapbooking, which is this complete feminine thing with the added bonus of accessories. She who has the most accessories, wins. Then there’s genealogy, which is my winter quest. It’s so addictive. However, all of the really good genealogy stuff (tramping through cemeteries, going to various little court houses, etc) is best done in Spring or Summer.
I’m also obsessing on my garden. Or my garden-to-be. I saw “What Lies Beneath” the other night and Michelle Pfeiffer’s character had, despite deplorable taste in men, an exquisite garden. Lots of roses. Very organic. I dig the rounded field stone look. I love perennials. But when it comes to actually digging out beds and (ugh) weeding, I come to road blocks. I’d rather plan and take credit for it than do the actual work. But maybe this year will be different. We need to plot out the area next to the front porch (where Esteban allowed a weed garden to flourish after doing Dirt Dump ’98). I want something other than pointy bushes, because I want to go with the feel of our 50 year old house. Pointy bushes don’t belong. They feel harsh and uninviting. Yechh. I’m thinking trellis’ and rose bushes or maybe heliotrope. Don’t know what that is, but they talk about it in “Our Town”, so it’s gotta be good.
Also, then there’s the web page. And photography. I’d like to do some experimentation with portrait photography. In black and white, if possible. I was at the Disney Store yesterday and they had a big stack of Disney stuffed animals and my only thought was that it would be the perfect place to take a portrait shot. I’m really attracted to purchasing a digital camera for this purpose, but haven’t really committed. I find it hard to commit to that when I really want a telescopic lens for my real camera.
And then there’s the writing. I’m getting lots of great copy-writing action from Kassandra in New Mexico. Plus, winning the recent fiction competition was a big gust to my writer’s ego. I think I need to be surrounded by creative types again. My writing was doing leaps and bounds when I knew that I had someone to show it to. Online boards just don’t cut it for me. Esteban tries but he really doesn’t have the literary chops for my stuff. His is more of a pragmatic approach to reading. While story is important, sometimes a white chicken is just a white chicken (my apologies to e.e. cumming).
I’m just brimming with energy today. I’m certain that the weather nearing 25 degrees and the sun this morning have helped my mood.
Oh no! I just heard someone say “It’s really snowing out there!” ARRRRRRGGGHHH!
