Janu-weary
...and we're only one week in!
Permit me, your (usually) positive and (mostly) upbeat newsletterist, a brief, grumpy interlude today, January 47th, 2025. No such date, you say? Well, it sure feels like it!
We had a White Christmas, with actual snow on the ground—which has been a rarity here in Oreland in recent years. Our major snowstorms either dump a foot of the flaky stuff right after Thanksgiving, snarl Valentine’s Day plans, or kill all the lovely spring crocuses and daffodils in early April. Believe me, NO one sings that they’re dreaming of a White Easter. By then, EVERYONE is sick of snow, and all other remnants of winter. I’m way ahead of the pack! Because I dread every single day of winter! My only winter sport is skidding on icy roads when I’m driving (but I’m darned good at that!) Fans of this Terrible Season ask me, “But don’t you love playing in the snow with your kids (now grandkids)? Isn’t skiing down a mountain exhilarating? Aren’t those big puffy parkas figure-flattering?” My answers: “No. No. And definitely no.”
For 2025, I decided to stop calling them my New Year’s “resolutions”; instead, I made New Year’s “promises”—to me! Genius! Whoever heard of someone breaking a promise?
Turns out, I’ve not only heard of that situation—I have BEEN that someone, countless times. Promises to others, sure, but mostly broken promises to myself. Which is why I never ran a marathon (or even 1/10 of a marathon), never learned to ride a bike or play the piano. When I turned 60, I swore I’d follow a friend’s example and write personal notes to 60 special people in my life. Didn’t happen then, or at 61, or 62, or…at this rate, I’ll finally sit down to scribble in about two decades—and then I’ll have to write 88 letters! What a ridiculous idea, right?
But this year will be different (I promise!)
OK, OK. Grumpytime over…
MOVIE TRAILER: COOL RUNNINGS
I love Cool Runnings (a comedy based on a true story about the Jamaican bobsled team competing in the Calgary Winter Olympics)—hadn’t seen it in forever, but I watched it again last night with Aiden and Peter. If it’s been forever since YOU’VE seen it, check it out (it’s widely available on streaming services). My “coolest” memory of this movie? In the Spring of 2000, 11 year old Rose (then known as “Mo”) used money from her thriving neighborhood baking business (“Bon Mo Cakes and Pies”) to take me and my sister C to Jamaica. Looking back, I’m guessing my daughter brought us grownups along primarily because she was too young to rent a room by herself—she sure traveled solo plenty in the years to come. But we had a great time anyway…and I remember turning on the TV when we first arrived at our hotel in Montego Bay and…yup! Cool Runnings was on…
COMEDY: GARY GULMAN “MELTDOWN IN TRADER JOE’S”
Gary Gulman is one of my very favorite comedians. Here is his tale of an unfriendly experience in the world’s friendliest grocery store…enjoy!
ESSAY: CHALK BLESSINGS
For those who follow church calendars, we are now in the season of Epiphany (which begins on January 6th, the feast day of the Magi who visited Baby Jesus.) This is my latest essay for Gather magazine—about the age old custom of hospitality shown to strangers. But what does chalk have to do with it? Read and find out!
AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: JOHN O’DONOHUE
I’m a huge fan of the wonderful Irish poet and philosopher John O’Donohue. Though John tragically died just two days after his 52nd birthday, he leaves behind a body of beautiful work. His website is a fine introduction to this extraordinary man…and I highly recommend the documentary A Celtic Pilgrimage…
POEM: THIS IS THE TIME TO BE SLOW BY JOHN O’DONOHUE
This is the time to be slow,
Lie low to the wall
Until the bitter weather passes.
Try, as best you can, not to let
The wire brush of doubt
Scrape from your heart
All sense of yourself
And your hesitant light.
If you remain generous,
Time will come good;
And you will find your feet
Again on fresh pastures of promise,
Where the air will be kind
And blushed with beginning.
BLOG PREVIEW: HERMIT-ICALLY (UN)SEALED!
In which I tell all about a fascinating bunch of recluses, from Saint Anthony of Egypt, to the Hermit of Ardsley, NY (where we lived for a few years when I was a kid! Never met the guy, though).
INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
“In all beginnings dwells a magic force
For guarding us and helping us to live.”
—Hermann Hesse (from The Glass Bead Game)
A reminder to us (me) to think of January as a wonderful beginning (and a magic force), however many dozens of days it contains! Enjoy the week, friends!
