the mud

Forgive me.  My typing will be slow and weak this morning.  I just walked a half mile carrying a jug of milk and my fingers are frozen.  But while I walked I was writing... Top ____ Things to do to Beat the Winter Blahs: all for free! 1.  Go for a walk.  It is a beautiful sunny day despite the 20 degree temperatures.  It made me feel better. 2.  Buy milk while you're out on your walk.  It will make you feel productive. 3.  Write something.  Write a poem or a blog or a Valentine to someone you would never send it to.  Or someone who is due a Valentine from you. 4.  Light a fire.  Especially when your husband, who doesn't like fires, is out.  It will warm your soul.  Or at least light a candle, especially if your husband, who is out, is on his way home.  It almost works the same way. 5.  Read a book.  Or collect a bunch of books you have no intention of reading.  It will make you feel less lonely.  There are others out there who spent countless hours alone writing the

Somehow we can't let go of Christmas.  Despite the fact that over the last three weekends I cleaned and put away a lot of stuff, there is still a small pile of bags in the dining room that is untouched and I really don't know what to do with it.  There are old gift tags and maybe a return in there that I just can't bring myself to do right now.  There is a stack of Christmas cards on the piano that I carefully punched and put on a binder ring but now they sit.  (Hanging them on garland with clothespins was a great thing I found this year, too!) There are four ornaments whose rightful box is nowhere to be found.  But even when I drive home at night I see so many lit trees still standing in the windows, wreaths on doors, and Santa flags hanging outside.  The dull days of January are here, but we don't want to let go of Christmas.  In our house we are doing Christmas lite.  We still have snowflake lights hanging in the window of the kitchen and the new Nativity I got

So many blogs I wish I had written, so little time. So what have I been doing?  Well mostly wishing I kept in touch.  But every blog I read mentions the fact that the author has been away from blogging and is sorry.  I am sorry too.  It's not hard to wonder why this is.  January days seem made for sleeping in, wrapped up in a blanket, drinking hot chocolate.  It is hibernation season.  At the same time, it is rather depressing.  The sun isn't out much, everyone is sick or knows someone who is, and spring seems so far away.  New Year's resolutions, broken or forgotten, seem to have failed us.  The days drag on diligently but we've lost our spirit, we've fallen behind in the race.  It's the Christmas hangover, the gifting-coma.  It makes me want to pack my bags and move to Massachusetts, and start a maple syrup farm.  But then the report about toxic sugar surfaced, and maybe it's not a good time to get into that business!  So here we are.  Stuck.  Rhymes wit

There is a children's book that I read to all my students called Frederick, by Leo Lionni.  It is the tale of a mouse who does not seem to be preparing for winter like all his other mice friends and it becomes rather frustrating for them.  However, just when the winter has gotten to its worst point, when the bitter winds blow, and the food is almost gone, and summer is a distant memory, Frederick shares his supplies, the words and poetry and COLORS he has collected while basking in the sun.  I love this story.  Well, just when we need it most we have Pantone, who is sharing with us the color of the year and this year's color is... Emerald Green.  Ireland, here I come!   So I've begun a collection of color:   I want to sit here every winter day! What a wonderful way to welcome winter. The funny thing is that I was talking to JJ about high school anxiety (he'll be a freshman next year, or this year!) and I told him the story of what a nerd I was on the first