This is that transition day for me. Holidays behind, new year looming up ahead. Time to gear up for what's before me.
I took down the Christmas tree decorations yesterday afternoon, but I left the lights on the tree, because it would have been too gloomy to remove their cheerful and bright glow in the darker hours of dusk. Since I have an artificial tree, I could keep it up forever. I could become one of those old people who fashions her own holiday schedule. Tree with lights in February? Why not!
I'll tell you why not: the aesthetics of it are all wrong. It's like keeping your carved pumpkin on the doorstep into December, or your happy birthday banner and balloons up weeks past your special day. What doesn't belong? My Christmas tree in my living room when I'm planning for the new year.
It's a bitter cold morning. Another Arctic blast. I don't mind. Henry doesn't mind. His sherpa jacket may not keep him toasty warm, but I have noticed that his natural coat has grown thicker over the past weeks. I think he'll be just fine!
Breakfast. I have a change of heart about reindeer plates and mugs staying with me all winter long. Again, I feel the push to move on.
Henry, do you agree? Look, my beloved pooch -- I'm wearing the sweatshirt with you on it!
I drop him at doggie daycare and go see my doc. I need to stop coughing. This has been a ridiculously long and bothersome leftover from some fall virus. Henry must think humans sound weird, hacking away like that.
After the visit, I run through the usual: USPS, UPS, Rx at Walgreens and finally home, to finish cleaning up after Christmas.
As I run through the day's activities (fun as they are), I ask people I encounter what they're doing for New Year's Eve. I hear about family gatherings (my doc), I hear about a blizzard in Warsaw, keeping everyone home, I hear about "going to bed" from people at the Edge. No one wants to party anymore. Personally, I never liked New Year's Eve parties except when I was very young, and even then I was skeptical. Is being around people you dont necessarily love or even like at the start of the New Year really all that great? Sigh... We've become a nation of introverts. Or, you could say that the introverts have finally had their say in how to move into the New Year. (Yes, I lean that way. Always have. Don't tell anyone.)
I pick up Henry, cook up a red lentil soup and stream the second season of Bad Sisters. A great way to spend the next to last evening in 2025, don't you think?
with so much love...
