Holiday Snow Musings, and a Resolution

I love snow for the same reason I love Christmas: It brings people together while time stands still. Cozy couples lazily meandered the streets and children trudged sleds and chased snowballs. No one seemed to be in a rush to experience anything other than the glory of the day, with each other, whenever and however it happened. -― Rachel Cohn, Dash & Lily's Book of Dares

Home again for the holidays... days of spending time at my parents' house, watching game shows and entertaining visitors, eating way more food and worrying far less than I normally do, and just taking each moment as it comes. I've wanted to feel this comfort for a while, and now that it's here, the days have slowed to a gentle stroll... not dull and boring, but slow enough to savour and breathe. I'm grateful for it.

We arrived last week, on a bright, windy day, when the flight we were on was nearly re-routed back to Regina, and by the time we landed, I wasn't sure who was more grateful, me or my stomach. My parents picked us up in their van, which has The Carpenters or Rod Stewart playing on repeat, and we were brought to the house, which always has a warm meal ready for us.

Is that civilized or what?

Since then, we've enjoyed a few days of wandering around: out to the pool for a swim on a few mornings, or outside for walks in the cold, fresh air. Yeah, it's cold, no shock there, but why dwell on it? It's winter in Winnipeg, and it is as it should be.

I like lens flare. I think it duplicates what it feels like to be blinded by the sun on a snowy day:

I think I might have figured out why the snow was annoying me so much a couple of weeks ago. I think it's because I had places to go, things to do. I didn't want to respect it for the force of nature it actually is. I suppose that's what comes of living in a region where snow is so infrequent.

And yet here, in my hometown of Winnipeg, where the snow is ubiquitous as stripes on a zebra, the snow fell last night. It fell and fell and fell, and by the morning, we had over a foot of snow to get out and shovel (which was welcome exercise after the piles of food I ate the day before). The roads were blocked, the highways closed, the Boxing Day shoppers thwarted (for the moment). 

Here, the snow falls, and I look out and I say, "I think I'll stay home."

Luckily, I never have trouble finding something to do. I'm still working away on this blanket. In truth, I'm getting bored with it, but I'm determined to keep going with it. I try to work one side per day, but that's getting a bit difficult to do as it grows. I'm interested to see what I end up with, and I'm even considering experimenting with felting it when I'm done:

I finished my little embroidery project, and brought it home to show my mom. I'm pretty proud of it, and I'm inspired to try out all sorts of things now with my leftover yarn ends. I'm thinking about sewing this one onto a cushion:

In fact, I have so many ideas that I've started to write a to-do list for when I get back to our own house. I've got a few more days off before I have to go back to work, and I'm really looking forward to working on some things I've been putting off for a while. So far, I've got:

• clean and service sewing machine
• spin and ply alpaca
• re-organize jewlery box

That doesn't look like much, but I know what I'm like: I'll start one thing and get distracted by another project for sure. I figure that, if I don't make too many plans, I won't be disappointed if I don't get them all done.

How's that for a modern New Year's Resolution?

Truth be told, I do actually have a resolution for myself: to be as kind to myself as I can, and in turn try to recognize when others are suffering from their own worries, and empathize as best as I can. It's sort of a tall order, because I come from a lifetime of discipline-by-berating, but right now, in this moment, it's not a habit I want to continue. Maybe it's because I've been home with my father, whose health is still not great... maybe I'm realizing how precious each moment is.

I don't want to spend so much time being impatient and angry anymore.

I think I'll go knit for a while... Happy Holidays to you all.