Greetings, Rural Sprout readers, Oh, my friends, it’s one of my favorite seasons of the year – hunker down and hibernate season. I was telling a friend the other day that this is how I refer to deep winter. When the fuss of the holidays is finally over, decorations are packed away,
and the tree is taken down, it’s time for me to rest. There always seems to be some great expectancy in the air around this time of the year. We’ve just come off of a big holiday and capped it off by celebrating a new year. Some of us made resolutions, some of us didn’t. We’re still wound up inside to keep the hectic schedule that crops up over the Christmas season. Go, go,
go!  Then, suddenly, it all comes screeching to a halt. But we’ve got quite a bit more winter to go.  That’s when the cabin fever sets in.  The nights are still long and dark, granted, slowly getting less so. Yet, the evenings are still deep and velvety. Over the years, I got smart and stopped tuning in to the raucous energy surrounding the Gregorian New Year. It makes no sense seasonally
where I live. It’s a random date smack in the middle of winter. Rather, my new year has already come and gone on October 31st, Samhain, the Celtic new year. It marks the end of the harvest, the end of one season and the beginning of another. I’m lucky that where I live, this coincides nicely with what’s actually going on in the natural world around me. In my mind, that makes a lot more sense. Plus, it feels
right as a lifelong gardener.  So, while my family and I enjoyed a ridiculous amount of food and non-stop card games on December 31st, I didn’t find myself compelled to get up on January 1st and start logging a two-mile run every day. No, this is the time of year for rest and rejuvenation, for contemplation and planning.  I save all my busy resolutions for when the natural world begins waking up in the spring when it makes more sense. For now, my friend, won’t you join me in the season of hunkering down and hibernating?Here are a few of my favorite ways of enjoying this deep winter quiet.  - Lots and lots of knitting. Do you have a hobby that gets lost in the shuffle of
nicer weather? Why not spend some time each evening doing that?
- Jigsaw puzzles. I do most of my puzzling during this time of year, and then they get put away when the days are longer and warmer. Jigsaw puzzles go great with quiet jazz, podcasts and audiobooks, not to mention hot tea or good whisky.
- Small, intimate dinners with
friends. There will be plenty of time for loud and noisy picnics and barbeques this summer. During the longest part of the winter, I like to invite a couple of friends to join me for an evening of warming food, good conversation and getting everyone home before 9:00.
- Naps. I’ve always loved a good nap, but now that I have two cats in the house, I feel they set a good example, and at least one nap a day is
compulsory. After I’m done scratching ears and chins first, of course.
- While I’ll be the first to admit it’s a great time of year to indulge in some binge-watching, I find I lean more towards reading rather than the TV. I like the quiet of it.Â
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Don’t worry; there will be plenty of time in 2025 to be busy and to
get going and get organized or shed those extra pounds or all the other things we resolve to do come January 1st. I promise I won’t tell a soul if you put those things off until spring.Â
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Did you miss a newsletter or want to read a few for inspiration? Find past newsletters here. Don't forget to check out our Facebook page for daily updates. That's all for this week, Rural Sprout Readers. |
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