Happy Holidays!

Happy Christmas everyone! Hope you’re celebrating in whatever way works best for you, from ignoring it altogether to having a big family get together and dinner with all the trappings. Here we’re having a quiet dinner with my mother-in-law. Sadly, they took the snow out of the forecast.

Also, Happy (belated) Solstice! We celebrated with homemade tourtière and apple pie. I’m looking forward to the longer days as we turn into the new year, as Christmas falls at the worst part of the year for me—I’m usually at my lowest in the winter months. It’s like hibernation: I sometimes sleep for 16 hours a day. I rarely leave the house except for brief errands. I haven’t been to the pool in a few weeks, or the mountain in ages. I walked at the estuary once a few weeks ago, but as my bipolar depression has deepened I’ve pretty much given up on getting out. I haven’t even been able to walk Silah up the street and back.

The weather hasn’t helped. It’s been grey and rainy for weeks. I don’t mind being out in the rain, but am a bit leery of slippery muddy trails. And the grey skies are so uninspiring. Last week we had two mornings with sunshine, and it was glorious. I basked in the watery light in the front yard, watching Silah wander around checking for activity around the bunny paths under the fences. The same happened a couple of days ago, in between rainstorms. Gotta take advantage of the sun while it’s out!

We also had quite the windstorm the other day, and I wondered what it would be like to be on the mountain as the wind blasted through the forest. I imagined a feral energy that ripped trees out by their roots and sent them crashing to the ground. I wonder how many trees fell, and if some of the trails are blocked. I’d like to go and find out—maybe I’ll be able to go and see in the next week or so.

Well have a good holiday break–I think I’ll spend mine reading and writing and sitting by the fire–all of my favourite things.

I’ll be back on New Year’s Eve, not with resolutions but with a new word to ponder.