Tag Archives: ike

Antidote

Fog

Oh gosh, today has Monday written all over it.

It started cold and predictably grey after a week or more of dark and dreary days. Where’s that brilliant October slant of light that’s made to cheer us even as November stealthily stalks us?

But I see a glimmer this afternoon, sunlight on the hills, picking out the few, stubborn remaining red leaves as if to spotlight the fading luminaries of the autumn floor show. Time to take final bows, put the folding porch chairs and the garden hose away, sweep the porch, remember where we (gleefully) stowed that snow shovel last spring.

You know how I feel about this.

But I have some antidotes in mind. Some new projects, another stab at NaBloPoMo (really? really. hmmm).

And when all else fails, in the face of bad news on the radio, sad news from far-off family and friends, dark afternoons, and the usual palette of worries and anxieties, I offer you my sister’s new baby: Brutus. Three months old and you just can’t be too sad when he’s in the room.

First taste of the river

Too fast

Those ears

Handsome

Crazy

October pup

Three

Quick Start: Curing the mid-winter blues

Use the following procedure to restore your good humor when you’ve been unreasonably glum for too long because of a) lack of warmth and b) lack of sunshine.

  1. Make plans to visit your sister for the weekend in a nearby city.
  2. Plan to arrive on an evening when she is hosting a dinner party, preferably one where delicious home-made Mexican food will be served and to which several interesting, articulate, food-loving guests have been invited.
  3. Talk, eat, laugh, and drink margaritas.
  4. Stay up late and watch silly, fun, grownup television.
  5. Get into a bed equipped with many pillows, warm blankets, and a hot water bottle.
  6. The next morning, do not get out of bed early. Wake up as early as you like, but stay there in that warm bed, thinking your thoughts, revisiting your dreams, and mulling over the long, plan-free, chore-free day ahead.
  7. Check out a delicious Middle Eastern bakery and gulp down a piece of cheese/phyllo pastry in an embarrassingly short amount of time.
  8. Go to a fun movie.
  9. Go out to dinner someplace that does not have chicken fingers on the menu.
  10. The next morning, take your sister’s dog for a walk through the snow-buried neighborhood.
  11. Watch the dog and his friend romp in the chest-high snow.
  12. Run some errands, starting with the best place for cupcakes, and ending at the best place for things you truly don’t need but want anyway.
  13. Drive home on a clear, sunny afternoon.
  14. Arrive home to flowers and a sweet note.
  15. Realize that February is right around the corner. February, the gateway to March.