Saturday
Dec242011
The Arrival of Winter and the Places Life Takes You
Saturday, December 24, 2011 at 6:36PM
Well, here in England, I actually can't quite make my mind up about whether it has arrived or not! Like Katy Perry, the weather at home can't decide between hot and cold. It's Christmas Eve, and it's incredibly mild outside, almost not even coat weather. The mild temperatures have made Christmas seem somewhat absent, despite all the usual festivities, shenanigans, and Christmas decoration traumas.
Having said that, there have been numerous cold snaps, and at various times over the past few weeks I have been wishing I didn't leave all my winter clothes back in Madison. Indeed last weekend, I woke to find snow covering the ground, and some nice icy roads around town.
What I notice most about winter- and the reason for illuminating the outside of the house with as many lights as possible- are the long dark nights drawing in. Especially "up North" where it's often dark and gloomy and chucking it down with rain, it's going dark at 3.30pm, IF it's even got light at all. And when you're heading off to work in the dark, and leaving work in the dark, you can feel like you haven't seen daylight all day. Waking up and seeing it's dark outside, coupled with the encroaching cold drifting through the windows and walls, makes you just want to stay curled up nice and warm, deep amongst the covers of your bed.
Fortunately, the longest night has now passed-my Dad has the good fortune of having his birthday on that short day- and the days will be growing longer again.
It is on this arrival of winter, the depressing nights and the frantic goings-on of the holiday season, that I blame my writer's block, and the reason I haven't written for a month again. AGAIN. That shows I can't really blame winter, but I'm going to anyway. For reasons unknown, circumstances have conspired to make me lazy and lethargic when it comes to blogging (and perhaps other things too) and I seem to spend just too much time thinking about what I want to write about, what I should be writing about, and too much time contemplating about how I am going to do all these things, that I never get around to doing any of them!
My mind is racing, but I can't seem to kick my fingers into action. I guess I never was a very fast typer anyway, but at least I have progressed from the two-finger tap approach.
But, with the New Year comes new resolutions and new intentions to pull my finger out and get down to work writing and what not.
Winter has seen me venturing into new places though, and made me reflect on how life can often take turns you never really expected. I mean, who would have thought that someone who never really cared about any sport, or any team, or anything athletic at all really, would be planning a trip half way around the world just to watch his now favourite team compete in a big game. Well, having stayed up through the night just to see them win the Big Ten Conference-again something I thought I would never do- I'm off to California, to the Rose Bowl again, to see the Wisconsin Badgers take on the Oregon Ducks. I never thought I'd be able to converse confidently on a sports subject before!
Similarly, as someone who often despised physical education at high school, I now find myself working in the local gym! And one of the benefits I am excited about most is the free gym membership! My time selling suits has sadly come to an end, and I now have to travel just 1 minute down the road to work. It's a simple little part time job, but I'm fortunate enough to have just that in these trying economic circumstances.
Anyway, it's time to enjoy Christmas with the family now. I "intend" to write another blog post all about the Christmas period, but it will likely now come after Christmas. I'm sure it'll include lots of anecdotes from another crazy family Christmas though.
In the meantime, I hope you all have a very, merry, Christmas, and a wonderful New Year.
Having said that, there have been numerous cold snaps, and at various times over the past few weeks I have been wishing I didn't leave all my winter clothes back in Madison. Indeed last weekend, I woke to find snow covering the ground, and some nice icy roads around town.
What I notice most about winter- and the reason for illuminating the outside of the house with as many lights as possible- are the long dark nights drawing in. Especially "up North" where it's often dark and gloomy and chucking it down with rain, it's going dark at 3.30pm, IF it's even got light at all. And when you're heading off to work in the dark, and leaving work in the dark, you can feel like you haven't seen daylight all day. Waking up and seeing it's dark outside, coupled with the encroaching cold drifting through the windows and walls, makes you just want to stay curled up nice and warm, deep amongst the covers of your bed.
Fortunately, the longest night has now passed-my Dad has the good fortune of having his birthday on that short day- and the days will be growing longer again.
It is on this arrival of winter, the depressing nights and the frantic goings-on of the holiday season, that I blame my writer's block, and the reason I haven't written for a month again. AGAIN. That shows I can't really blame winter, but I'm going to anyway. For reasons unknown, circumstances have conspired to make me lazy and lethargic when it comes to blogging (and perhaps other things too) and I seem to spend just too much time thinking about what I want to write about, what I should be writing about, and too much time contemplating about how I am going to do all these things, that I never get around to doing any of them!
My mind is racing, but I can't seem to kick my fingers into action. I guess I never was a very fast typer anyway, but at least I have progressed from the two-finger tap approach.
But, with the New Year comes new resolutions and new intentions to pull my finger out and get down to work writing and what not.
Winter has seen me venturing into new places though, and made me reflect on how life can often take turns you never really expected. I mean, who would have thought that someone who never really cared about any sport, or any team, or anything athletic at all really, would be planning a trip half way around the world just to watch his now favourite team compete in a big game. Well, having stayed up through the night just to see them win the Big Ten Conference-again something I thought I would never do- I'm off to California, to the Rose Bowl again, to see the Wisconsin Badgers take on the Oregon Ducks. I never thought I'd be able to converse confidently on a sports subject before!
Similarly, as someone who often despised physical education at high school, I now find myself working in the local gym! And one of the benefits I am excited about most is the free gym membership! My time selling suits has sadly come to an end, and I now have to travel just 1 minute down the road to work. It's a simple little part time job, but I'm fortunate enough to have just that in these trying economic circumstances.
Anyway, it's time to enjoy Christmas with the family now. I "intend" to write another blog post all about the Christmas period, but it will likely now come after Christmas. I'm sure it'll include lots of anecdotes from another crazy family Christmas though.
In the meantime, I hope you all have a very, merry, Christmas, and a wonderful New Year.
Reader Comments (1)
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU BEN!!
You must have caught my writing procrastination dis... ease. i know exzctly how you feel. So much to write about is meandering in my head and just does not get down on paper ( or computer). I too will endeavor to do better after the holidays. My published book awaits me!
Lookiong forward to visiting with you during your California visit!
Liz