The weekend the days were sunny, cold. I walked 30 blocks quickly, mittened, and then another 30, hoping to beat the blues. I got a haircut. I tried hard to find a warmer coat. I stopped by Alice's for a savory scone. I bought a coloring book just for me. Sunday morning, a friend and I watched ice flow down the Hudson. We stood on a sticky-outy pier, gleeful and awed and apple-cheeked, as the ice dipped and surfaced and broke, until we could take the wind no longer. Walking back, my friend pointed out a murmuration of starlings, and I was glad to see them, glad to have the sort of friend who knows which birds are starlings, glad to be the sort of friend who knows what a gathering of them is called. And then we ran down a hill and kicked at some snow.
January is a hard month. My blues aren't entirely gone, but the tromping, the rushing ice, soothed. Today some bit of me resigned to hunkering down, to knitting mufflers and thinking about quilts and scribbling away in my various books for the next few months. Perhaps, for January, resigned is the best we can do. And when it gets bad, we can always kick at some snow.
{Ice on the Hudson, me}
13 maids a-milking:
Kicking is generally good. Just remember, An Exaltation of Larks is sure to follow. I have waited 40 years to say that.
Sounds like you had a nice weekend :). Love the photo!
Gorgeous photo. Tromping the snow sounds like a great way to let off steam (and warm you up?)
It always scared the *expletive* (your blog is to beautiful to defile with naughty bits) out of me that a flock of crows is called a murder.
*shudder, vom*
Maybe it is just me, maybe it's the weight of wedddings and the sickness of Westies and the cold, but this January feels heavier than Januaries past.
when the day comes that we meet up for some cheese, we should definitely bring our coloring books. mine isn't as cool as yours, though. dora the explorer.
I never feel that I can come up with the words that adequately express how much some of your posts delight me. This one was particularly needed, and is particularly loved.
Oh sweetest, January kind of sucks. Kicking things does help though, I've been kicking A Lot of snow. I'm glad your blues are lessening, ever so slightly.
blue monday, supposedly the most depressing day of the year, 1/25. i propose we throw a party (with lots of new order).
see, i got all excited about new order and forgot an "is." music does that to me.
Nearly halfway through, now. February beckons.
LPC is right. In fact, James Lipton may just be the man to cure your blues. Next Blues-Dissolving Activity on the list: take thineself to your favorite book store and find Lipton's masterful "An Exultation of Larks." It's all about the history and etymology of terms of venery with KILLER illustrations of beetles and parrots and hares in Edwardian dress tipping their hats and getting their horses shod and eating asparagus and that sort of thing.
Much thanks for this thoughtful, truthful post. And I've added a murmuration of starlings to my little sidebar list of collective nouns. xo.
January has been easier since I had to give up Christmas. Less build up, less let down. Hang in there love, Feb is, um, the WORST in NYC, but warmth will come, it will come.
@W&M: I would be honored if you would defile my blog.
@agirl: What a kind thing to say--thank you!
@Lily: When I saw your collective nouns, my heart was irreparably yours.
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