Our own groundhog...

Our own groundhog? Never showed up for his big moment. Still sleeping, I'm sure. And we're not about to poke him in his abode. Nonetheless, if I can speak on his snoring behalf -- we're getting the spring season soon here. Cloudy as anything out there this morning.

I don't know about you, but for me, a cloudy day always stirs up a craving for a something sweet or yeasty for breakfast. I dig out cinnamon rolls from the freezer. That'll do!

And this is when I remember that too sweet is worse than not sweet enough. Most cinnamon rolls are extravagantly sweet. Why do these things always come to mind after you've done your dastardly deed?

The guilt. Oh, the guilt. 

February is a slow month here on the farmette. This isn't necessarily a bad thing -- savoring a retired day could well be the goal for any of us. Doing so slowly allows you to take gentle steps rather than rushing head first without paying attention to anything at all. Slow eating, slow shifting of priorities. Slow planning, or no planning at all. I have to wonder though -- if you decelerate the pace, does everything, absolutely everything slow down for you? January, February -- they're a crop farmer's resting months, but for those of us who are not farmers and whose physical labor is limited to chasing kids around or planting flowers and fruit trees, do we really need to slow down? And if we do take measured steps now, in the winter, do our minds also slacken? Fall off the treadmill? Turn out thoughts and ideas that just a decade ago we'd have considered... inconsequential, to put it mildly?

So on the one hand, I like the idea of slowing down. On the other, I want to put in spurs, right around mid February. Something to kick me forward at a faster pace. For the physical challenge, but, too for the mental one that is its counterpart. 

The easiest way for me to do this is to hop over to a new destination. Put myself in strange surroundings.  Because a winter slow down, while heavenly, also sounds a warning bell: dont get used to it! Stay sharp, stay focused!

In the afternoon I have my not-very-slow kid pick up. Today's the day I shuffle them off to their various lessons. I think I said "hurry up!" one too many times. Oh well. They are forgiving children.

And in the evening I cook chili. Slowly. With food, slow is always good!