Winter Solstice!

There are two ways of spreading light; to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.
                                                                                               -Edith Wharton



Today is Winter Solstice!  It is really the beginning of winter in this hemisphere.  I know, I know, we had that dreadful snow/ice/freezing rain/sleet event that stayed on the ground for over a week!  That was only a tease from our mother the earth to remind us of who is in control.

I always begin each day after this with the idea that each day is longer than the day before.  By February I am really sick of gray, gloomy icky days.  I long for warmth and sunlight.  By March I can hardly contain myself.  Wouldn't one think that after all these years of habitual behavior I would adjust my behavior or change it somehow?

The cat and dog are not happy with the weather either.  I have to make them go outside when it is raining/freezing raining or any other form of frozen precipitation.  We will get through this and I kick them outside to do their business.  Patty did a record poop and pee this morning shivering the whole time. 

I am beginning to go into the winter slump already.  I think it is a little bit early for me to do so, but sometimes I just sit and frown.  I have SAD, and this year it is early.  I ache and I am cold all the time.  I don't want to get up and do.

Yesterday I did cook my annual mincemeat cake.  It is a recipe from my former sister-in-law, and I really like it.  I don't like fruit cakes, but this is really good.  It isn't too sweet, which is a plus. 

I had an annual physical in November, and I am still healthy.  My cholesterol is high, but that is expected with my family history.  My Vitamin D was depleted, and I expected that also.  But everything else is perfect.  Just aging is enough to cope with. 

Not much else is new and exciting.  I am knitting one sleeve on the red sweater.  The medieval sweater is languishing by the chair.  I started my niece's baby blanket.  I have been searching sock patterns again, and I don't need to do that.  I have enough to do.  I finally found some fabric I like that will finish the quilt I have reserved for H and R. 

So settling in for a long winter's nap sounds good about now.  We have four more months of yucky to cope with.