Some things should not overlap

I got up this morning and realized it would be February tomorrow. So I updated the calendars, and put out the handful of February decorations. Yes, I have February decorations. They are all Valentine's Day/love themed (a circlet of red roses, mantel blocks that say "hugs and kisses", a snow globe with a heart in it). I can't help it...I'm a seasonal freak. I think it goes back to when I was a teacher.

Anyway, I realized this morning, while getting out the February goodies, that it was now really officially time for the Christmas tree to come down. I'm not kidding. My tree was still up, with a handful of ornaments on it. I don't have much excuse, other than the fact that I've either been gone or sick every weekend in January, and I just don't have time to work on it during the week. So I buckled down and handled it this morning, because really some things just should not overlap. Like Christmas and Valentine's day decorations. :)

Chocolate!

If you like chocolate, and you need something to do next weekend (and you're in the Eastern North Carolina area), here's an event you might enjoy: The Carolina Chocolate Festival, planned for February 6 - 9 in Morehead City. It's for a good cause (actual, several good causes), and it's delicious...

Upcoming Variety Show

I got an email from my friend Marcy today, with details about the planned Variety Show to be held in late February. All are welcome to participate (see below for how to get involved if you want to perform), so join us! If you'd prefer not to be in the show, please come be in the audience!

Here's the email so you'll have more info.

This is a quick note to make sure you know about the Variety Show
that's coming together for Saturday February 28th at the Community
Center (7pm) to benefit the United Methodist Rec Hall renovations.
Sing, dance, recite, do a skit, play music or enjoy it from the
audience … please pass it on. All ages. Tickets will be $10. Bake
sale and drinks will be on sale.

There's a signup at the post office. Or call/email/visit me and I'll
sign you up. Be crazy! Silly, serious. Whatever. Just come help
make this a night to remember. There are a couple of
rehearsal/meeting times to put it all together (Feb 12 & Feb 26 at 7pm
at the Comm Center).

Let me know how I can help. Props, musical support. Me, Lou and
Jamie Tunnell are here to back you up if need be. Lots of other
musicians have already signed up too.

Mostly, please help spread the word? This will be a lot of fun for a
good cause. That building has served this community well and it would
be so great to revive her.

We're also looking for video or pictures of variety shows gone-by.

Let me know if I can help in any way. Want encouragement? Just call!

Thanks so much,
Marcy and Lou

Sea glass

I love sea glass (also called beach glass). I have been lucky enough to find a few pieces and have been given some pieces as well. I love the way the pieces are smooth and opaque, no longer as clear as the glass was before being tossed in the ocean for a few years.

This morning, at one of my salt water spots, I found several pieces of what I call future sea glass. They have been tumbled in the water long enough that the edges are no longer jagged and sharp enough to cut, but they need longer before they will be transformed into true sea glass.

I have been working through some hurts from my past recently, and I realized while looking at the pieces I had picked up that past pain is like sea glass. At first, after only a while, it is just healed enough that it can't hurt us again. But later, if we allow our past to be truly past (that is, if we let it go - into the endless ocean of God's care and forgiveness) it can be transformed into an item of great beauty. How does past pain become present beauty? When we allow it to change who we are for the better, by learning from it, by becoming stronger, and eventually by using it to help us love and reach out to others who are experiencing similar hurts.

My "future sea glass" needs some more time in the ocean, so it can have a little longer to be truly transformed. And some of my past hurts need more time, too, before I will be truly transformed. But it's okay to be a work in progress.

The world breaks everyone and afterward many are stronger at the broken places.
- Ernest Hemingway

Why is it...

...that when something breaks, and you order a new one (and you buy a few extra things to get free shipping), the day after that, something else breaks that you could have ordered from the same place? On Monday, I dropped my card reader and it died. I upload pictures on a nearly daily basis (most of which go on Connor's blog), so I immediately ordered a replacement from Staples. I threw in a few reams of paper (I'll use it eventually) to get free shipping.

Then, this morning, my computer mouse died. Sheesh...

I guess that's Murphy's Law of online ordering.

Hope things aren't breaking all around you, wherever you are!

It's official

Assuming that God placed me on earth to accomplish a certain number of things...right now, I am so far behind I can never die. :) That would be a disappointment, actually. No offense to earth, but I think heaven will be better! (And I think earth is fantastically, amazingly, wonderfully beautiful - so heaven will be breathtaking. As the song says, "I can only imagine...")

In addition to being completely swamped with "stuff to do", I have caught the cold that space man Connor is just now getting over. I've started wheezing now, and am considering using the nebulizer myself! Connor and I both went to the Health Center today, and came home with antibiotics to knock out this upper respiratory infection. I hope they work!

In the meantime, I've been inside most of the time for the last several days (except I have managed to get out to touch salt water!), so please forgive me for the lack of interesting Ocracoke happenings in the blog...I just have no idea what might be going on out there!

Update

I was partially wrong about the outcome of the basketball games last night. The girls did lose to the team from Cape Hatteras, although they fought hard and the game went into overtime. But the Ocracoke Dolphin boys beat Hatteras quite soundly - they won by 24 points! I'm guessing the reason I didn't see or hear any signs of celebration was that the game wasn't over yet.

There were more games today, but I didn't go. I have a cold, so I decided not to share my germs with everyone!

On that note, here's a piece of advice. Do not watch a tearjerker movie when you are already congested. P.S. I Love You was not a good choice for me this evening.

Need a truck?

We're selling one. (It's my Dad's. He loaned it to us when we were moving, but we don't need it long term and neither does he...so we're selling it for him.) Here's the info. from the flyer I just posted in the Post Office:

2003 FORD F150 TRUCK
LOW MILEAGE (21,500)
5 SPEED (MANUAL)
V6 ENGINE
A/C TOWING PACKAGE
BEDLINER RADIO/CASSETTE

$6,250 OBO

CALL JOHN AT 928-2622

And here's a photo.

B-ball

I went out at about 7:30 tonight and it seemed like there were suddenly a lot more cars on the roads than is typical for a Friday night in January. Then I remembered. The Ocracoke Dolphins basketball teams (girls and boys) played at home tonight, so I'm guessing most of the cars I saw were folks heading home. (I also saw the school bus headed out of the village toward the ferry, to take those teams back to Hatteras.) I'm guessing that the Dolphins were not victorious this evening, as none of the cars I saw were flashing their lights or honking their horns. (Yes, usually that would be done if our teams won.)

There are several more home games coming up (schedule below), so come out to the gym and support the Dolphins!

Saturday January 24 - against Jamesville - girls 2:00 PM, boys 3:30 PM
Tuesday January 27 - against Columbia - girls 4:30 PM, boys 6:00 PM
Wednesday January 28 - against Mattamuskeet - girls 4:30 PM, boys 6:00 PM
Friday February 13 - against Creswell - girls 4:30 PM, boys 6:00 PM

Finally!

Remember this post? Well, John finally finished the puzzle yesterday. Much cursing was involved while he was working on the tree! This puzzle definitely wins the award for the one which took the longest to do (we started it on Christmas day)...

Ferry schedule changes

I received the following press release in email today and thought I would post it here since it may be of interest if you are planning to visit the island. There's also some info. about the Cherry Branch ferry route in case you're planning a trip to that part of the state...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: Jan. 22, 2009
CONTACT: Lucy Wallace (252) 473-3461

*Please note that the time change from Minnesott Beach - the 8:15 p.m.
departure is changed to 8:30 p.m. not a.m. as previously released

FERRY DIVISION ANNOUNCES CHANGES TO SOME OF ITS ROUTES

MANNS HARBOR — The N.C. Department of Transportation's Ferry Division
has made changes to its Cherry Branch, Cedar Island, Ocracoke and Swan
Quarter routes. The adjustments are being made in order to meet U.S.
Coast Guard requirements of no more than a 12-hour work shift per day,
per crew member, per vessel.

The schedule changes at Swan Quarter, Cedar Island and Ocracoke routes
went into effect Jan. 21 and will last through May 18, when the
heaviest tourist traffic begins. The adjusted schedule for Cherry
Branch will become effective Monday, Jan. 26 and will be year-round.

Departures from both Cedar Island and Ocracoke are 7:30 a.m., 10:30, 2
p.m. and 5.
Departures from Swan Quarter are 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. and from Ocracoke
7 a.m. and 1 p.m.

The following runs at Cherry Branch have been stopped:


3:35 p.m. from both sides;
5:15 p.m. from Cherry Branch;
5:45 p.m. from Minnesott Beach;
8:45 p.m., 10:45 p.m. and 12:45 a.m. from Cherry Branch; and
9:15 p.m. and 11:15 p.m. and 1:05 a.m. from Minnesott Beach.


Time changes to the Cherry Branch schedule include:


the 3:15 p.m. run from both sides will now depart at 3:25 p.m.;
the 9:45 p.m. from Cherry Branch is changed to 9:30 p.m.; and
the 11:45 p.m. run is changed to 11:30 p.m..
From Minnesott Beach, the 8:15 p.m. departure is changed to 8:30 p.m. and the

10:15 p.m. changed to 10:30 p.m.

For a complete look at the 2009 schedules go toncferry.org or
call 1-800-By-Ferry to hear the updated times.

Back up and chat

I was in my office today when I heard a couple of cars driving by (the window on my left when I'm sitting at my desk looks out on Sunset Drive). They honked in friendly greeting at one another. A few seconds later, I heard what sounded like a car going by very slowly, so I looked through the window to see that the two cars which had previously passed one another had both backed up and stopped just outside my window. The drivers rolled down their windows, and they were sitting there having a chat. I love that on the island, the streets are quiet enough (especially at this time of year) to do this.

Here's a last snow picture I took this morning. It's a shady spot (the back steps into our den), and the pawprints are from my cat Jamie. Cute, huh?

Movie night

If you're on the island this week and looking for something to do on Thursday night, the movie The French Lieutentant's Woman will be shown at Deep Water Theater at 7 PM. Yes, this is related to the fact that it's the next book to be discussed in the Let's Talk About It book series. I'm planning to go even though I haven't finished the book yet (I've just barely started it). Or maybe I should say I'm planning to go BECAUSE I haven't finished the book yet! Hope to see you there!

Yes, it did...

...snow. And it may not be done yet. Here are a few pictures I took early this evening just before it got dark.


My garden angel looks cold...


The adirondack chair and hammock stand will have to wait for warmer weather.

Cars getting covered...

Let's read and talk

I don't think I've mentioned yet in this space about the book talk series currently being hosted by the library. It's a program called "Let's Talk About It", designed to get multiple people in the same community to read - and then discuss - the same books. There will be a series of discussions, each led by a guest speaker.

I attended the first session, on the book Madame Bovary and found it very informative (the speaker gave the attendees a lot of background about the author, Gustave Flaubert). I also enjoyed the insightful and interesting comments made by many of the readers during the discussion.

If you enjoy this kind of thing, here are the dates and titles for the rest of the series (all are at 7 PM, at the Library):
February 5 - The French Lieutenant's Woman
February 26 - The End of the Affair
March 19 - Morgan's Passing
April 9 - A Mother and Two Daughters

There are multiple copies of each book available at the library. So , if you want to join in, you can pick one up or read your own copy, or cheat and read the Cliff's Notes or an online summary, or really cheat and watch the movie... :)

Will it be white outside in the morning?

The weather people around here are saying it may snow tonight. As you might guess, snow is pretty rare on the Outer Banks, so it's always exciting to see it. I was outside a while ago (around 9:30 PM) and it has certainly gotten colder, although it still didn't feel quite "cold enough for snow" to me. But hey, I'm just a human, not a thermometer, so I could certainly be wrong!

I'm also not a meteorologist, so I just have to assume that there's something they can see with their tools that indicates possible snow. Time will tell. In the meantime, I'll leave you with John's guaranteed forecast that he offers any time someone wonders aloud whether the weather will do a particular thing: "there will be weather tomorrow". You can bank on that one. :) I'll keep you posted with more specific information once something happens.

Construction zone

Molasses Creek sings a song called "Cedar Island Ferry", which I (and most others who ever hear it) find hilarious. The words to the chorus change each time it is sung, and one chorus repeats the phrase "construction zone" several times. They are talking about the work area on a highway (the song is about driving, trying to make it to the ferry on time). This time of year, though, you don't have to catch a ferry and get on a highway to see construction in progress, as that type of work is often done during the winter here on the island.

This winter seems a bit slower than usual in the construction realm. I certainly have not noticed quite as much building activity as I usually see in January, and a friend who works in that field of endeavor here mentioned to me recently that the workload is definitely down for her. There are two projects happening right now, which you may have noticed if you live here (and you will probably notice the changes at these locations the next time you visit if you don't). The first is the work to renovate the Fish House, which was made possible by a grant they recently received from the Golden Leaf Foundation. From the looks of things over there, they are making some major changes, and I am looking forward to seeing it once they are all done. The other project, which I just noticed for the first time today, is work being done at the Creekside Cafe. It's hard to tell (at least to my uneducated - in terms of construction - eye) what they are planning, but if I had to guess I would say they are going to expand the space. It may be that they are adding indoor seating, but it's also entirely possible that it will just be a deck (at the moment, it's some pilings in the ground and a pile of lumber sitting to the side). I'll try to remember to keep you posted on the work as it proceeds.

January is a good time for new construction, both literally and metaphorically speaking. It's a great season to start fresh, renewing our minds and our selves in readiness for a new year, perhaps building a new healthy habit or removing old "structures" in our thinking which are holding us back from our best. I spent the past week (my retreat) laying the foundation for the "construction and demolition" work I want to do in my own life this year, and now I'm looking forward to getting started! Hope any "construction" projects you have planned for yourself in 2009 will go well, wherever you are...

Sunday dinners

The Ocracoke United Methodist Women are planning a series of Sunday Dinners on the last Sundays of January, February and March. They will be held in the Methodist Church Rec Hall at 12:30. The menu for the January dinner (on Sunday Jan. 25th) is roast pork, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, rolls, iced tea, and dessert.

The purpose of the dinners is to raise funds for the restoration of the Rec Hall building. The building is a little bit of Ocracoke history, as it was previously located on the Navy base which operated on the island during World War II, so its restoration is a good cause. (In case you needed a reason to come eat good food!)

Yard sale with hot chocolate

I had some of the best hot chocolate I have EVER tasted this morning. It was another freezing morning, so it was a good one for hot chocolate! I got this hot chocolate from Merle (which explains a lot about why it was so good...anything that Merle makes is good!), at her yard sale. I also got a toy for Connor and some lovely Christmas plates and matching teacups. That's what I call a good morning!

I'm baaaack...

...and I'm refreshed.

I didn't go far away (I stayed right here on the island in fact, although not in my own house), but there's something about taking some time away from your "normal" life which can change your perspective even right near home. (Well, it worked for me at least!) Hope you had a good week, too, wherever you are!

Unplugging

I'm taking a week off for a "beginning of the new year, get-my-head-on-straight-and-get-focused" retreat. I'll be gone from Saturday Jan. 10th through Saturday Jan. 17th. I'm not taking my laptop (gasp!), so there will be no blogs during this time period. Yes, I know that means this won't be truly Island DAILY in 2009, but so be it. (I still might post 365 blogs...I'll just have to post multiple on some days!) Anyway, I'll blog again when I get back.

In the meantime, I hope you have a terrific week, wherever you are...

Biker gang

I went to the Post Office late tonight (it was around 9:45), and ran into a friend there (people go to the PO at all hours of the day here; since the boxes are accessible 24x7, you can always get your mail even though you obviously can't buy stamps or send packages except during their open hours). Anyway, I chatted with my friend for about half an hour, and then finally went in to get my mail (after we both got cold from standing outside; it is really chilly here tonight). So by the time I left, it was around 10:15.

The moon is full, so it wasn't pitch black, but it was reasonably dark as I made my way on Highway 12 toward home. I wasn't far from the Post Office when my headlights picked up several small spots of flashing red light ahead of me. After an initial reaction of "what is that?", I realized that they were reflectors on the backs of bicycles, and that there were a bunch of them (I tried to count, but it was difficult since they were moving; it was probably around eight to ten). I slowed down as they rearranged themselves into more-or-less single file (they had been spread completely across the road, until my lights signaled my approach), then looked over to see who it was as I went by. The group consisted of local teenagers, and I immediately recognized the ones I could see well enough. There was another group (of about four to six more) slightly ahead of them on the road (which also worked to get into single file as I got close).

Just your average friendly biker gang, Ocracoke version.

Pickin' and singing on Friday nights

There is a plan to hold music jams (aka pickin' and singin') at the Community Store this winter.
I'm told they will be at 7 PM on "most" Fridays and that interested folks should check at the store for more info. and/or to find out whether there will be a jam on a particular Friday. Sounds like fun to me! I'll try to attend one or two (I actually have a standing conflict at that time, so we'll see...) and if I do, I will take and post some pictures.

A sign of the times

The Ocracoke Community Center is a great functional space for meetings, potlucks, movies, and other such activities. It is used for all of those things. It's also available for rental to the public for parties, rehearsals, dinners, receptions, etc.

The space is managed by a board made up of local residents, and they have made many improvements to the building over the last several years, to make it both more visually appealing and more functional (better storage space for tables and chairs, for example). One of the new items they installed last year was an outdoor sign - the kind with rows for letters to slide into, so it can be changed to announce upcoming events at the Center. In the last few months, it has advertised and invited people to concerts (Ocrafolk Festival Thanksgiving Fundraiser and Ocrafolk Christmas concert are two examples), meetings (monthly Civic and Business Association and OPS Fall Membership gatherings for example), and a party (New Year's Eve).

I drove by the Community Store a couple of days ago, and looked at the sign to see what might be happening this month. The sign said "Welcome to Ocracoke". That's an accurate sign for January: there's not much happening!

Is Facebook taking over the world?

I swear, Facebook is going to take over the planet. I don't spend much time on there, because I'm just too busy with other stuff, but almost everyone I know has an account. Even my husband John, who is not usually an internet fan (he likes to say "I only use email and eBay"), has become somewhat of a Facebook junkie. He's not totally hooked, but certainly is more up to date than I am (and he has more Facebook friends, too.)

I got a letter the other day from Mothers Against Drunk Driving, soliciting a donation, and it mentioned that additional information was available...you guessed it...on their Facebook page! Good grief.

It's dark at the end of the village

I drove to the Post Office last night well after dark, and as I headed that direction, I noticed something out of the ordinary: darkness on the left side of the road at the end of the village. It's usually not dark there, as that's where Howard's Pub is, and the pub is open every night of the year. Well, it used to be. That was even one of their advertising slogans: "open 365 and a quarter days a year". And for many years it was true. They were open every day, including Thanksgiving, Christmas, and other holidays. They were even open when everything else in the village was closed because of mandatory hurricane evacuations.

That changed last year, during the Highway 12 bridge replacement project (when the road was closed to all traffic and only 4 WD vehicles could access the village from the north (after riding the Hatteras ferry), as the detour involved driving on the beach). Pub management decided it would make sense to close while the road was closed, so they did. They used the time to thoroughly clean everything (not that the pub is not clean, but they took stuff down off the walls, cleaned the ceilings, etc.). I assume several employees also enjoyed the down time and took vacations.

Apparently having a month off during the winter is habit forming, as they decided to repeat it this year. So the Pub is once again closed, leaving an odd dark spot at that end of the village. Don't worry if you're planning a trip: Jason's is open for lunch and dinner. January is a great time to visit the island in my opinion - it's very quiet and there are often warm days, perfect for walking on the beach (it was 63 today). So come visit...just plan to eat at Jason's, or cook for yourself!

Twelfth Night

I went to a Twelfth Night celebration last night. It was an enjoyable evening of snacking and socializing with friends, a fitting end to the holiday season. There were greetings of "Happy New Year" all around, as everyone enjoyed the wine, snacks and each other's company.

There was, as is traditional, a king cake with a bean in it. Carol found the bean in her slice, making her the Queen of Twelfth Night. She received a large crown, decorated by Susan Dodd in her inimitable style. The crown was a bit large for Carol's head, but some improvisation with a wine cork made it fit, and Carol wore it proudly.

It was a fun evening. You can learn more about Twelfth Night and associated traditions here.

Star light, star bright

Long time blog readers may remember my habit of touching salt water on a daily basis. Astute readers may have noticed that I haven't mentioned it in a long time. Unfortunately, that's not because I just didn't think to mention it. It's because I haven't been doing it regularly. (Not that I stopped completely, but it hasn't been anywhere even close to daily in a long time.) New years are good times to work on new (or old abandoned) habits (good ones, anyway...the bad ones seem to stick without any work at all!), so I've started making time each day to touch salt water again, as I used to.

I have a handful of favorite salt water spots, but for the last few nights I've been going to the edge of Silver Lake after dark. It has been a lovely experience, reminding me of why I used to enjoy doing this every day. One great thing about cold winter nights is that the sky is generally clear, making for wonderful star viewing. Last night was no exception, and I enjoyed gazing up at the wonder above me. I love how looking at the heavens at night makes me feel small, and yet a part of it all.

There's an extra star visible right now, as well. It's across the harbor on the former Coast Guard station (now the NCCAT building), and it goes up every year for about a month for the holidays. I suspect it will come down soon, along with the stars and angels on the light poles, holiday lights on the homes, and my own Christmas decorations, including all five trees (yes, five...but three of them are tiny). It's a little bittersweet to me, this ending of the Christmas season. I love everything about Christmas - parties, concerts, carols, Nativity scenes, advent count downs, traditions...but most especially, I adore Christmas lights. (I drove around the village 4 separate times this year to look at them again and again.) So last night, in addition to touching salt water, I drove by and looked at the house which was my favorite in terms of lights (and also well-liked by the judges: it won the "Most Traditional" award). Then I went home and did what Karen (who lives in that house) told me she was going to do before they took the lights down: sat in my living room with all the lights out except the ones on our trees, and enjoyed the sparkle (along with a glass of wine).

I was glad to enjoy looking at the trees one last time this year (until late November, anyway), since I'll probably start the process of taking them down today. I say "start" because putting away our trees is a somewhat lengthy ordeal. I collect gold plated Christmas ornaments, which come in sets of 12 each year, so they must be put back in the correct boxes. The sorting sometimes takes a while, as the dates are stamped on them in the tiniest possible font, and often in odd places, so this is a task I undertake literally with magnifying glass at the ready. I'll just think of it as prolonging the joy of seeing my ornaments!

Out of sight

A tradition in our family is to do a puzzle on Christmas day. There's always one under the tree from Santa, and we work on it together. When we first started this, the puzzles were simple and we usually finished them before the end of the day. Over the years, however, they have become larger, with more and smaller pieces, and more detailed pictures, so they take several days to complete. Luckily my sister Jocelyn and my husband John are both really good at puzzles! The rest of us are average (Mom, Jocelyn's boyfriend Damon), disinterested/uninvolved (Dad), or quite frankly awful but enjoy the process anyway (that would be me). Recently, I've been the one to assist Santa by buying the puzzles, but my lack of skill at them doesn't stop me from getting hard ones: I pick them based on liking the picture, and depend on Jocelyn and John for the execution. I glued and framed the one from last year, I liked that picture so much. It's hanging above my mantel at the moment, but will come down with the rest of the Christmas decorations, as it's a picture of the Nativity.

This year, I was really excited about the puzzle I picked out for Santa to bring. It's a picture called "Not a Creature Was Stirring" (a painting by an artist named Nicky Boehme), and it depicts a living room on Christmas Eve. Four stockings are hung by the chimney (I can only assume "with care"), a cat is snoozing on the floor in front of the fireplace, through the window a smiling snowman sporting a red scarf and black hat appears to wave the green glove at the end of his stick arm, and the Christmas tree is covered with lights and loaded with a pile of presents at its base. I was (and am) excited about it because the picture has a special quality: it glows in the dark! (Or it will, once we get it put together.) I'm not 100% sure, but my guess is that the tree, the wreath on the wall above the mantle, and the evergreen garland on the mantle are the parts of the picture which will glow. (I'm guessing that because they all have lights in them as part of the image.)

The only problem is that, since the pieces for those three sections of the puzzle all look essentially the same, it's going to take a good long while to finish putting it together. Jocelyn's visit ended on the 28th, so it's up to John now. (I'm willing to help, but just not able to be very helpful! I'm better at the early stages of a puzzle - sorting pieces, and putting together the obvious/easy sections.) So it's early January, and I'm still waiting to see the glow in the dark effect. Here's the puzzle as it looks so far.



In our house, we have a particular challenge with puzzle making: the work in progress needs to be protected from the three cats overnight (unless we want to start the process all over again every morning, which of course we don't). We accomplish that by covering the coffee table with a throw, which keeps the puzzle out of sight for the cats. The only problem is it also keeps it out of sight for us. You know how, when you can see a puzzle, you try to put a piece or two in it every time you look at it? Or you might multitask and work on it while watching a movie or TV? Well neither of the above is happening with this puzzle right now, as neither John nor I has chosen to remove the throw for the past couple of days. To tell you the truth, I think we're avoiding it. We'll get it done eventually, though!

This gets me thinking about the new year, and resolutions. What things in my life do I keep "out of sight" rather than working on them, and what are the results of that choice? What will it take to get me to "look" at those areas, and thereby make progress in them? Hmmmm...food for thought, especially at this time of year.

January calendar

I have a wipe off calendar on my fridge, which I prepare every month to help me keep track of what is happening and when. I erased December yesterday, and replaced it with January. The result is somewhat depressing: compared to December, January looks completely bereft of activity.

I wish I had a photograph of the December calendar, but I didn't think to take one before erasing it. But here's the January calendar.



As you can see, there's a grand total of six things written on it. (To make matters worse, two of the things aren't even fun (one's a Dr. appointment, and one's an appointment with the phone company, who will hopefully fix the DSL issue I've been having), and one of them is downright sad (the memorial service for the friend who passed away a few days ago.)

The December calendar, in contrast, had many, many entries on it (several days had two events, and a handful had three!), most of which were fun (holiday dinners, concerts, parties, church services, pictures with Santa, and other such activities) or preparation-for-fun (rehearsals for aforementioned concerts and services). There were a couple of random non-fun items, too...Connor's flu shot, as one example...but it was mostly celebratory.

No wonder so many people get depressed in January! I try to see things positively, though, so I'm going to think of the empty calendar as "boundless time for new opportunities", rather than "boring lack of activities".

Ice cold and a sale

A cold wind blew last night, dropping the temperature significantly. I went for a walk (with Connor all bundled up in the stroller) this morning, and saw a puddle which had turned to ice! I also saw this kitty enjoying a sunny spot on a neighbor's porch.



If you're on the island, there's a sale at Books to Be Red and Deepwater Pottery (one of my favorite shopping spots) this afternoon. They are calling it a "no football zone" and will be offering special savings through the store in celebration of the new year. There may be wine and munchies on hand to make it even more of a celebration. The event is from 2:00 to 4:30 PM and I plan to go and spend the gift certificate I received for Christmas. See you there!