Gathering Leaves and Apples

First published on The Writing of a Wisoker on the Loose in 2015

How’s that for a totally random blog post title? It’s actually not as strange as it sounds, though. I’ve rearranged my office so that I once more get to look out the window at the yard (and, not-quite-coincidentally, now sit in a warm beam of sunlight all. day. long.)–and I’ve been doing a lot of looking out at the dry leaves stacked and packed and shivering in the occasional cold gust of wind.

I’m still thinking about my beloved woof-hound, whose ashes we’ll bury tonight, somewhere beneath those heaps of leaves in the back yard.

…wonderful. Typing that sentence completely derailed me into a broody pondering sulk. Argh. Let me back up and try again….

January always feels more like the end of the year than December does. December is so damn busy, all holiday this and family that. January is when the cold weather properly sets in; the leaves in the gutter start looking like brown lumpy cement, the trees are grey and silent, phone calls come few and far between. Everyone is so exhausted from the holiday bustle and madness that they simply don’t want to talk or go out anywhere. January is a quiet time, a reflective time, a time to make homemade beef stew and pot roast. It’s probably my favorite month out of the cold season.

It’s a good time to eat thick chunks of apple with thin slices of an expensive cheese. (See? I’m tying that title in, bit by bit. Bite by bite, maybe?) It’s a good time to stage a massive housecleaning. It’s a good time to tinker, to fiddle, to amble around and sort out plans and check items off of lists and clear out one’s email inbox. It’s a damn good time to try new things and research interesting subjects, to settle down with a hot cup of tea and a book and a thick warm blanket.

At least that’s my version of January. What’s yours? What do you do when the weather report says another cold front is coming through and there’s going to be ice and snow and school cancellations and empty grocery store shelves and goddamn stupid drivers sliding off the road every which way?

While you hand over your answers, I’ll be settling down with a cup of coffee, working on the two dozen blog posts I’ve been meaning to write for weeks now. And scratching the ears of my remaining dog, who is a most persistent whiny mutt when he wants attention. Such as…now.

Back shortly…