February Recap

In contrast to January, which is a long month that can’t quite quit, February has been a very speedy month. We hunkered down and survived, if you can call smearing cream cheese on a toasted bagel a “survival challenge”. We feel the sap rising at the end of February, as we lift dry, trembly limbs to the stronger rays of sunshine. Our children think it was the Lamest Winter Ever, Worse Than Last Year. (Interpreted to mean not enough snow and ice.) We had a few gloriously pristine snows, but not many, so it was a slate grey world, full of mud. It was about as bleak as it can get. For a person who struggles every winter to stay grounded and out of the pits, I am wondering why I am feeling so cheerful this year?

There was a matter of a conversation with God last fall, “Honestly, why do I live somewhere so bleak for so much of the year? Is there something You are trying to teach me?” (I know, duh.)

I love Pennsylvania. I just don’t love November through April in Pennsylvania. That’s half the year, and when I thought about it, it seemed like kind of a lot. I am a cheerful person, in general, but I realized that I am giving myself a pass on complaining about the weather.

“You know, it isn’t My will that you fuss about the overcast sky and the brown and the ugliness.” Oof. It wasn’t a long conversation, but it was pointed. I am not saying I had a transformation just then, and embraced mud season, but I made a commitment to stop letting my mouth complain. Sometimes the words just slipped right out without me even thinking, and then I would have to reframe. “Isn’t is interesting how we live under a mushroom cloud? Look, you can see the edges of it on the horizon when we drive south. I wonder what wind currents are causing that?” Sounds a little whiny still, I know. When the you have an agreement with the Lord, He is very kind in reminding you when you forget it.

Anyway, that’s point 1 for my flourishing in less than ideal situations. Don’t be a fuss pot. C.S. Lewis learned to love rough and stormy weather so much, he considered people who complained and stayed holed up to be missing an elemental gusto. (Get it?) Note to self: Be like Clive Staples.

Point 2 is Take Your Supplements. I did not skip the vitamin D and B. This year I bought a seven-day pill organizer for A.M and P.M. and now I am officially weirdly old.

Point 3 is a luxury that I have not always had: Sleep. I did not set my alarm unless we had an appointment somewhere in the morning. Homeschooling requires a lot of effort and investment, but we have hit the sweet spot where I realize that not everything is lost if we don’t start at the crack of dawn same time every morning.

Point 4 is related to calming down. Avoid Caffeine. It occurred to me that there is something wrong with a lifestyle where I cannot survive without caffeine. So I kicked the habit. I drink decaf coffee, and now I sleep better and now I am weirdly old. Oh, maybe I mentioned that before. In the interest of transparency, there were a few diet Coke days. What a gross way to get a boot in the rear, but it does work.

Those are the four things that come to mind for what has changed in my life that may have helped me cope with the seasonal depression that normally afflicts me. I have a bonus for you, a word that is new to me. Fika, which in Sweden is the term for sitting down with family or friends to have a hot drink, often with something sweet on the side. You can use it as a verb or a noun. We fika a lot at our house! Come, join us!

We’ve been finishing a bedroom in the basement. The guys installed large windows, rewired it, drywalled the ceiling, put in can lights, and trimmed it. I painted it, and Greg and I went to Gabes to look for a rug, bedding, etc. He moved his stuff down there last week, so I filled about 20 nail holes and re-caulked the cracks in the paneling and trim in his old room. I love repainting and furnishing a room when there isn’t a time crunch. (The haste around our remodel/move still gives me the post-move willies, just remembering how we put our furniture in the centers of the rooms so that I could finish the painting.) For this room, I chose a color called lullaby. My family thought it would look like a nursery, but it doesn’t. It looks restful in a blue-grey sort of way. With the white chalk-painted furniture I am working on, it will be even better. I don’t overthink the colors I choose for my walls. I just pick what I like, and then it makes me happy. There you have it, home interiors by Dorcas. It’s a very uncomplicated recipe, but I stand by it.

I made a dress -coral colored with little white flowers- for Addy a few weeks ago. The first time around I made it with her outgrown pattern, size 10/12. It was pretty unbelievable for a while, but there was nothing to do except cut and sew another bodice, size 14. For once I had bought extra fabric, a great mercy. Addy has gotten so many hand-me-downs in her life that she is excessively grateful for new dresses, and it is a pleasure to provide them. She prefers brighter colors than the other girls. Her recipe is uncomplicated too.

We went to Hobby Lobby this week, our favorite store in the world. We needed cotton yarn, felt, and some paint. We came home with fabric for hoodies and throw pillows, cute containers for beads, gold calligraphy ink, and some picture frames. I teased Rita about having a hard time with self-control, and she said, “You have no idea how hard I was holding back!” Me too, girl, me too.

The girls slept in their camper last night, despite the chill. I bribed Rita so that I could share a paragraph she wrote about it.

    “If you go down the trail on the left-hand side of our shop you will come to a cute little camper with a wooden porch and flower boxes. The outside is white and green. If you decide to peep in you will be confronted by a door that sticks like glue. Pull like a mule and it might open. Reluctantly. If you get the door open, step in quickly. (So as not to let any heat escape from the lazy little heater.) Don’t forget to wipe your feet! To the left is our reddish-purple couch\bed. On each side small windows look out to the woods beyond. On the wall straight in front of the door are my spice shelves. Woven carpets cover the ancient linoleum floor. To the right are shelves. One has the cooking appliances; hot plate, electric water boiler, waffle maker, and popcorn popper. The others hold anything from plates and cups to pans and mouse poo. Everything is artfully arranged to take up as little of the limited space as possible. If you ask politely I might make you a cup of tea.”

This is the view off the back deck this morning. It was a little crisp out there, but they danced in through the snow in high spirits.

That was the view off the deck yesterday. I stood out there in bare feet, not even shivering, and listening to the roaring of the creek after our night’s thunderstorms. Isn’t weather interesting?