Sunday, November 25, 2012

There's no place like home for the holidays


scraps

The cabin trip really cleared my head. Granted, my head is still filled with a tumble of idea fragments and urges, but the outlet doesn't seem as blocked as it did before.

big trees

tree tree tree

The channel is open and I'm just kind of calmly gliding through things, and (mostly) not getting myself tripped up on dreary things like feasibility of sales and other demons that feed on creativity. It isn't true, but I pretend that someone else takes care of all that.

Getting to visit all the snow in the cabin as I did really jump-started me into thinking about the holidays -- inevitable in our nervous economic times. Happily, it got me thinking about the holidays in terms of what treats I want to make and give as gifts -- and what to put them in -- not so much the frenzied feelings of decorate the house, what should I put on the wishlist, what's our budget like.

I am firmly of the NO CHRISTMAS UNTIL THANKSGIVING IS OVER school, as I have mentioned here before. So this forward-thinking was a bit strange for me. I have my paper turkeys and leaves up, and my delicious attempt at chestnut cookies was mostly because I was curious about chestnut dressing. I remain firmly planted in apple cider season, but with snowy thoughts around the edges.

The cabin / pre-holiday thinking has also got me homesick in a way I never, ever have been. This time last year we were in Colorado drinking cocoa with mom before a fire in the fireplace, seeing snowflakes from the borrowed bedroom window.

snow

Watching the light parade.

Lights parade

Hearing tuba Christmas.

tuba christmas!

Going with Anthony's Dad to chop down a tree.

cutting a christmas tree

This year we went to Colorado in the Summertime, for two weeks, and spent a lot of time getting married. So we're in the "hunker down" phase. Holiday season at home -- which I honestly prefer on principal. I never until now felt the trade off one receives in going visiting in December -- its all those great moments we had last year.

Recognizing this, I will be going on a little campaign here on the homefront. Finding all the Christmasy things to do up here. Making the extra effort.

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