Winter rest
This time between Christmas and the New Year has turned into the perfect little winter rest. Nick had a few days off from work, we let Grace play preschool hooky for the week, and welp… baby Nick, Clark and I live on a very flexible schedule that revolves around naps and snack time. And laundry. But mostly snack time.
We’ve been hiding out (but not really, because everyone knows we’re here) down the Cape, watching the birds. And eating soup. Hanging up some artwork and setting up a basement gym. Reading my favorite Wendell Berry poem and resting. Binge-watching Super Store once the kids are in bed. Coloring and playing trains. Trying to perfect my recycling system. Hunkering down and staying in.
The largest part of me is an optimist and is fed by hope. But there’s that tiny part of me that is cynical and practical and maybe even a little wary. So I’m grateful for this week, this winter rest, both because it seems like the perfect end to an imperfect year… and because I know that time like this will give me a deeper well to draw from in the future.
That favorite poem I mentioned (you can hear Wendell Berry read it here) starts like this, “When despair for the world grows in me…”
And it ends like this, “For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.”
So that’s where I will be until 2017. Resting.
Also On Tap for Today:
- Spending a few hours at the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History before it closes for the winter
- 5 heart-opening yoga poses for the new year from mindbodygreen
- Performing a very scientific experiment involving a waffle maker + cinnamon rolls
How do you keep your well of sanity/balance/happiness/gratitude/Cheez-Its full (or at least, not empty)?
