Poppin’ Poppin’

Way back in January, my good friend and fellow South Side Community Council member Jenn Holliman said, “Hey Suz, want to do a thing?” And, since I’m impulsive and don’t think things through, I was like, “YES! Let’s do a thing!”

She didn’t tell me that we had a month to make 1,000 flowers.

That thing was Pop des Fleurs. You may have noticed back in March that CLP – South Side was covered in bright flowers of every material: plastic, yarn, coated paper, and anything else we thought could withstand a Pittsburgh winter. We were a test installation to see what materials would survive. There was another gorgeous installation at Arsenal Park in Lawrenceville as well.

Arsenal Park, Lawrenceville

Pop des Fleurs was originally conceived by Fiberarts Guild of Pittsburgh member, Annette Sandberg. The idea was born during the cold and dreary Pittsburgh winter. Annette was trying to remember how her friends and family had remained up-beat and connected during long, cold winters in her birthplace, Norway. The image that came to mind, was her family home filled with flowers and candles, and warm conversations in front of the fireplace.

Its creation will create color and bring delight during the dark season of February and March through handmade, pop-up flower bouquets and gardens. It will also raise awareness for the internationally renowned exhibit of contemporary fiber art happening here in Pittsburgh in May 2016.

Remember Knit the Bridge in 2013? It’s the same amazing group of people!

Knit the Bridge, 2013

Knit the Bridge, 2013

Our flowers were installed on my birthday! The community came out in full force and embraced the project from beginning to end. The Market House Senior Center ended up doing their own project for their 100^th Anniversary. The Chamber of Commerce had an installation. People loved it. It brightened up the gray March.

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The great news is that Pop des Fleurs is partnering with the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. Every branch will host workshops, serve as a space for individuals and groups to make flowers and also will be installation sites for the gardens. This project aims to connect communities and neighbors while learning about different fiber arts.

In other words, it’s a big deal! I am beyond excited to be working on this project and I am so proud that Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh was picked as the community partner. Every library in Pittsburgh will be covered in flowers for the month of February! If you are interested in becoming involved—by making flowers, donating materials or planning the installation—contact your local library branch or check out the Pop des Fleurs website for more information. And follow them on Facebook for updates about the project.

If you feel the need for even more entertainment, come to CLP- South Side’s Crochet and Knitting Club and watch me learn to crochet left-handed! So far it has consisted of me swearing a lot and launching yarn across a room.

-suzy.

The Cozy and The Metal

The New Year started off well enough, but by a week into 2015 I was already in the middle of some difficulties. My beloved feline companion of 17 years got very ill and died. That was bad enough to set me back a while. Added to that, however, we had an ice storm, and my wife slipped on said ice and broke her foot. Later that week I took a series of particularly shady hits in a dek hockey game and ended up with some soft tissue damage and some bruised ribs. With all of these things happening, I wasn’t living my normal routine (including running, which has become like medicine for me). There are a few things that have helped me immensely. Of course, I’m talking about old metal records and cozy mysteries.

 

this is what happens when you do a google image search for “cozy mysteries”

It’s no secret that I love cozy mysteries. See HERE and HERE. The books that I’ve been into early this year are the “kind-of-cozy” books by Jane Langton. They are a bit rougher around the edges than most cozy titles, especially concerning graphic language. That said, the way that Langton tells stories is engaging and entertaining. Emily Dickinson Is Dead is a great example of that. The way that the narrative winds back and forth weaving the lives of the characters together is quite remarkable. Plus, if you have a soft spot for literature (as I do) the book is filled with bits from Dickinson’s poems. A Transcendental Murder didn’t engage me quite as much, but it has a similar approach and a great connection to Emerson and Thoreau.

I also got into Carol Miller’s Murder and Moonshine. This is an interesting beginning to a series set in rural southwestern Virginia. Daisy is a waitress at the local diner and gets to hear all the local gossip. When a reclusive old man shows up there one day and drops dead a few minutes later, Daisy finds herself in the middle of a case involving local law, moonshiners, the ATF and, of course, her famous peach cobbler.

What goes well with a nice cozy mystery better than some classic metal? Early Metallica has always been a guilty pleasure of mine. Ride the Lightning has been in rotation. (Listen to “Creeping Death” on repeat you ask? Yes, please!) Likewise, Master of Puppets has been getting some well-deserved attention. (Put on “Disposable Heroes” and try to mosh around your living room – then, if you’re anything like me, you remember you have bruised ribs and ease yourself back to the couch and the heating pad).

 

this is what happens when you do a google image search for “metal music”

Round it out with a bit of Celtic Frost … To Mega Therion, to be specific. Turn up “(Beyond the) North Winds” as a cold, icy gale blows outside and be reminded that, in the face of broken, busted-up bodies, and the death of our friends, we still woke up today, and have a chance to live, love, read books and listen to music. Add the classic Black Metal by Venom, and you have a fitting soundtrack for anything the winter can throw at you.

 

Eric

who is currently ensconced on his couch, cozy in hand, metal on in the background, and a heating pad on his ribs

Blame it on the rain (or Mercury retrograde)

Last week, I was hit with the biggest case of the winter blues. For no reason at all, everything was impossible. My daughter turned into a threenager overnight. I slipped on some ice while running. The muffler on our car broke and the day I was supposed to take it to the shop it snowed and there was nowhere to park so I had to drive my noisy car around and around the block. There were no seats on the bus. And it is cold! And snowy! And dark! Remind me never to move to Sweden.

On the day when I was feeling the worst, I figured out a couple of things:

1. Seasonal Affective Disorder is a real thing! I remembered that I feel awful every winter. Time for me to start stalking the sunset times again and looking forward to the end of the month when it will still be light out when I leave work. And in only one month it will be daylight savings time!
2. Mercury is in retrograde. This has never, ever meant anything to me, but articles started popping up on my Facebook feed and it’s as good a reason as any to explain how I was feeling. Supposedly during times of Mercury retrograde, things break, appointments get missed, and everything is just generally awful. I hear from Taylor Swift that this Mercury retrograde is particularly awful. Astrology says I’m supposed to feel this way! (I’m also supposed to be compassionate, creative, idealist, escapist and oversensitive according to astrology. Guess my sign!)
3. My “problems” are really not so bad. A dear friend of mine, who underwent an actual tragedy not long ago, contacted me to see if I would help proofread a grant she was writing. The combination of doing something to help someone else, and the realization that even in her bad times she was working to improve things for others, really went a long way towards putting my funk in perspective. It’s such common advice that it’s almost cliche, but helping others truly does benefit us as much as it does those on the receiving end of our help.
4. Spring is coming! I’m keeping my eyes on the prize by planning my garden and dreaming of sunny, ice-free runs. Our Seed Library’s annual seed swap is even happening this month, which is a great harbinger of springtime.

Finally, yesterday Maria wrote a wonderful blog post with some ways that she’s been handling some major life changes. Check it out if you missed it!

-Irene

This Blogger Did Not Know Cold

When winter reaches its coldest and darkest, some people like to fill their brains with escapist fiction full of warm beaches and sun-kissed romance. I find the cold too consuming for those fantasies. I magnify it into blizzards and ice ages. And while for every icy thriller, one can find a cozy ski lodge, this year I’m stuck in the permafrost.

The man starts building his small fire under a snow-covered spruce. He may live to regret this.

There’s a Jack London short story you might remember from a high school English class—I certainly can’t forget it. It’s called “To Build a Fire.” The protagonist is trekking with a husky across a frozen Yukon trail, ignoring the advice of the old-timer to never travel alone below fifty degrees. As London says, “This man did not know cold. Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold, of real cold, of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing-point.” When, halfway through his journey, he meets with disaster, he knows that his only chance of survival is starting and maintaining a fire. But the chill that necessitated the fire also attacks his coordination, and his numbed fingers can no longer manage delicate tasks. More than a century after it was first published, London’s story remains both compelling and horrifying.

Jack London’s body of writing extends past the frigid short story. His two most famous works are the novels White Fang and The Call of the Wild. And while the winters they portray are just as disturbingly frigid, the real violence of the stories comes from the wolves, sled dogs, and the humans around them.

The Call of the Wild is a sensational work, full of the feeling of running, the sting of a first snowflake, and the passion of love. The main character, Buck, is a pampered San Francisco estate dog, kidnapped and brought north for the Yukon gold rush. And while his understanding is enhanced and anthropomorphized for the sake of narrative, it’s an ultimately canine story. It’s also a fierce story, and the sensational delights are more than matched by the dizzying force of clubs, the taste of fresh blood, and the bone-wearying effects of pride and cruelty. It shows its age only in a few unfortunate moments of thoughtless racism, where the dog—having shed most of the trappings of civilization—is still treated as more human than the (fictional) Yeehat Indian tribe members he is attacking.

To see how a more modern author addresses similar questions of civilization and survival in the same setting, try Julie of the Wolves, a Newbery Medal-winning juvenile novel by Jean Craighead George. The protagonist, a thirteen-year-old Yupik girl, is torn from safety by her mother’s death, her father’s abandonment, and her own child marriage and domestic abuse. She packs a bag and runs away, hoping to eventually reach the home of her pen pal in California. But miles of tundra separate her from the shipping ports, and she is dangerously underprepared for survival. Craighead George, unlike London, develops within her heroine humility, ingenuity, and compromise. Her story, while violent, accepts violence as only one part of natural law.

For more stories of wolves and sled dogs to chill your bones:

True Stories

• Running North: A Yukon Adventure
• Puppies, Dogs, and Blue Northers : Reflections on Being Raised by a Pack Of Sled Dogs
• Never Cry Wolf
• Yukon Alone: The World’s Toughest Adventure Race
• No End in Sight: My Life as a Blind Iditarod Racer
• The Cruelest Miles: A Heroic Story of Dogs and Men in a Race Against an Epidemic

Could-have-been-true Stories

• Ordinary Wolves
• An Echo Through Snow
• Hold the Dark

Not-remotely-true Stories

• First Light
• A Game of Thrones
• Shiver
• Frostbite: A Werewolf Tale
• A Companion to Wolves

-Bonnie T.

Baby It’s Cold Outside!

As I’m writing this, it’s a balmy 30 degrees outside and I’m feeling thankful that it’s at least sunny out there. You will never, ever hear me complain about hot weather but the cold is a whole other story. Here are a few of my ideas for surviving the cold weather in Pittsburgh:

Phipps Conservatory: Just up the street from the Main Library, I spend a lot of time here every winter. There’s nothing like escaping the cold by wandering around lush tropical flowers and cacti, not to mention the gorgeous holiday decorations at this time of year. The Winter Light Garden is also a fun distraction from the cold, and on weekends my kids love the Saturdays with the Sugarplum Fairy dance class and photo ops with Santa!

CLP events: I spend a lot of time at the library, obviously. But despite working here, I come here a lot during cold weather weekends too– where else can you find something that will entertain everyone in the family (especially stir crazy kids)? We like to come to the Sunday Lego Club in the Children’s department and the various Sunday music programs (like this one), but whenever I’m stuck for something to do on a weekend I check our events page for other options.

The Oliver Bath House: I love being able to go swimming in the winter! One of my favorite things about Pittsburgh is its extensive network of community recreation centers like this one.

Divergent by Veronica Roth: Really, any series of YA literature would do here, the more dystopian the better. I love reading series of books after they’re already written. This trilogy, set in a post-apocalyptic Chicago, is on my reading list for these cold weekends.

I am the Upsetter: The Story of Lee “Scratch” Perry Golden Years:  Maybe it’s a subconscious longing for warmer days, but every winter I start listening to reggae and dub again. This box set has several hours worth of music so you don’t have to think about what you’ll listen to next.

Who else has some tried and true winter diversions?

-Irene

That Dreaded Time of Year…

When someone tells me “you’re from Pittsburgh, you should be used to the winter by now” I cringe.  I hate cold weather.  I hate snow.  I hate short days, little sunshine, trees with no leaves, tough morning commutes, long sleeves, coats, and being cooped up.  I always have.  I always will, there’s no getting used to it.  I’ve never been a fan of fall either, it just means things are dying and the winter is coming.  Although self-diagnosed, I’d venture to say that I have Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).  This year I’m going to try to embrace the season, or at least the season’s cooking, indoor activities, and maybe even some outdoor activities too.

Not that it’s all I like about summer, but summer food certainly has helped sway my preference towards that season.  Fresh tomatoes, bbq, watermelon, salads, plums, peaches, apricots, basil, cilantro, and ice cream all have very special places in my heart.  Fall and winter flavors, although I certainly enjoy them, to me, don’t equal summer. I’m not one of those people who can’t wait for pumpkin spice to come back.  This year, though, I’m going to give it a go and embrace the fall and winters, and the flavors they bring.  I’ve already made pumpkin pancakes, although this hardly counts as using seasonal ingredients because the pumpkin I used came from a can.  This is just the beginning though.

My garden does have fall veggies that I planted in August (many of the seeds I got from Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh-Main’s First Floor seed bank).  I didn’t plant pumpkin or squash, but I have beans, leeks, green onions, lettuce, celery, and several herbs.  I also have a rosemary plant that I brought inside for the winter, as rosemary has the same climate preferences as me.  I’ll also need to buy many of the fall flavors and ingredients from the grocery store (or farm, as we’ll be visiting local farms this fall, more on that later).   But where do I start with putting fall and winter ingredients together in a fall and winter kind of way?  Where do I start with anything I want to do, with books from the library of course!

My selections to start with:

Autumn nights, winter mornings : a collection of cold weather comfort foods – Barbara Scott-Goodman

Winter food : seasonal recipes for the colder months   Jill Norman

The Winter Harvest Cookbook by Lane Morgan

Of course part of embracing the fall and winter will be enjoying the traditional celebration foods of those months, and the celebrations themselves.  Turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie, cookies, and all of the casseroles that various family members prepare this time of year are excellent, not to mention the celebrations that they’re served at.  That’s another element of embracing the season, to focus on all of the festivities and traditions that happen this time of year.  I love any excuse to spend time with my family, which luckily for me live nearby.  Thanksgiving, Halloween, Christmas, and New Years are all holidays that we celebrate together.  My oldest daughter’s birthday is in November too.  There are plenty of reasons to be around friends and family.  But what about going to the dreaded outdoors in the cold, the rain, the snow, the wind?

Again, I’m going to try to be at one with even that aspect of these seasons.  Luckily, here in Pittsburgh there are lots of great farms with fall festivals.  There are 2 that are within a 15 minute drive of our house.  We’ll be doing the pumpkin patch, hayrides, and buying apples and apple cider (fresh apples are an excellent part of the fall). Here is a list of local fall festivals to enjoy!

Now, being outdoors in the fall is one thing, but in the winter is quite another.  But, then again, I do have 2 daughters who will be happy to get out and play in the snow.  My goal is to take them out to play in the snow a bit more this year than last year.  I’m going to be realistic, it will be cold and uncomfortable, but seeing their faces as they make snowmen or throw snowballs should make up for the temperature.  Plus we’ll get to enjoy hot soup, tea, chocolate, and coffee when we come inside.  Well, okay, the coffee is for me, not the kids, but you get the idea.  We’ll be building some fun family traditions and memories.

While I read all year round, winter is a great time to settle in with your preferred warm beverage and enjoy a good book.  I already have one holiday favorite, I’d love to learn about some new ones,seeing that I’m trying to change my attitude about this time of year.  Please share some of your favorite seasonal or holiday books, and I’ll be sure to check them out!

I’m also choosing seasonal and holiday books for my children, in an effort to help them better enjoy the festive season.  Making seasonal and holiday reading a part of their holiday tradition will certainly make this time of year more special for them!  Please visit your local Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh location where the children’s staff will be more than happy to recommend some great seasonal, age appropriate books for your kids!

You know what, with all this stuff, the fall and winter actually seem like something to look forward to.  Spending time with loved ones, different flavors and ingredients, and some great activities and traditions!  I don’t know, it might actually be downright tolerable.  Cheers!

-Scott M.

Spring?

Spring officially starts today at 12:57PM.

SPRING.

Lousy Smarch is almost over. It’s been a long winter.

Pittsburgh

Ten (Mostly Pittsburgh) Things I’m Going to Do Before It’s Cold Again

Kennywood!

Every single year I say I’m going. I think this is the year!

The Wilds

Two words: Zipline safari!

Gallery Crawl

Carnegie Science Center 21+ Night

Carnegie Science Center

Swimming World Tour

There is a city of Pittsburgh swimming pool right behind my library, CLP- South Side! I’m also a fan of the county wave pools, the Dormont Pool, and Sandcastle. Plus, there is a secret river spot I take a dip in a few times a year.

Dormont Pool

Churchview Farms Dinner

Did you know there is a farm in Baldwin? Did you know that it’s run by a librarian? I have no idea how that could be more awesome. Oh wait! Add a farm tour and multi-course dinner prepared by a local chef. Awesome-er.

Panhandle Bike Trail

Not that I don’t love riding to places like Connellsville and Boston on the Great Allegheny Passage, but it’s time to mix it up. Starting in Carnegie, this trail travels almost 30 miles to Weirton, West Virginia. Impress your friends, tell them you rode your bike to another state.

Tybee Island, Georgia

The Surf Puppy, Tybee Island, Georgia

2014 Pedal Pale Ale Keg Ride

Commonwealth Press Beer Barge

Bands, craft beer, boats. Sold.

Some other plans include going to the movies on Flagstaff Hill, exploring Frick and Schenley Parks on my bike and going kayaking on the Allegheny River.  We’re going to need a longer summer.

What special Pittsburgh (or non-Pittsburgh) activity is a “must” for you? Because I’m game for anything!

Happy Spring!
suzy

Things That Have Made Me Cry (Lately)

Me and Sarah McLachlan. Bringing you down like a champ.

I cry over everything. Or as my best friend put it so eloquently, “I feel all the feels.” If you live in Pittsburgh you may know that the sun hasn’t come out in like eleventy months. The whole city of Pittsburgh (including me) has looked like this forever:

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We have a city-wide depression going on. Everyone I know is miserable. When it started snowing again Monday night, I burst into tears.  All I want to do is sleep and eat potatoes. I am longing for Spring and bike rides and reading outside and swimming and sunshine and fresh vegetables…

Hah! None for you.

But since that’s a million years away and I enjoy going from one extreme to another, let’s talk about things that have made me cry lately (besides everything).

1. This insanely quotable book: The Fault in Our Stars, John Green

You don’t get to choose if you get hurt in this world, but you do have some say in who hurts you. I like my choices.

Angsty, funny teenagers. Cancer. Dream trip to Amsterdam to find the author of a favorite book. First love. Friendship. Death. Grieving. Coming out in movie form (filmed in Pittsburgh!) on June 6. See the trailer here. See a ton of librarians watch it en masse and cry together. See me cry if someone says “okay” in a certain tone of voice. 

2. This movie: Blue is the Warmest Color

But I have infinite tenderness for you. I always will. All my life long.

Blue is the Warmest Color was awarded the Palme d’Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. In an unprecedented move, the award was granted to not only the director (Adbellatif Kechiche), but also the to the lead actresses, Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux. Based off of the graphic novel by Julie Maroh,  and showing at the Hollywood Theater, Blue follows the life and love of two young lesbians. It beautifully captures that obsession you feel when you first fall in love, when you can’t stop thinking about it and your world revolves around them. And then. There is also a break-up scene that is harrowing in its realism and flat-out pain and fury. Did I mention I saw this on Valentine’s Day?

3. This song: Say Something by A Great Big World

Say something, I’m giving up on you. I’m sorry that I couldn’t get to you.

I know, I know. Don’t judge. I’m not the only one. Oh the tears! Other songs making me cry recently include: Song for Zula by Phosphorescent, All I Need by Radiohead and Love Out of Lust by Lykke Li. I dare you to listen to any of these and not want to get under the covers until April.

4. This photo of Otis smiling:

I don’t know why this makes me teary-eyed. I’m fragile. He’s cute.

5. This text from my best friend:

I love u and ur awesome!!

Because we all need to know we are loved and awesome.

Here’s to spring flowers and blah, blah, blah-

suzy, the saddest librarian

Baby, You Can Drive My Car (and listen to my book)

Let me be the umpteenth person to tell you that I’m so over this winter already.

I mean, I am done. 

Pittsburgh’s daily dose of snow-slush-slop atop Arctic Circle temperatures colder than my freezer has made for some interesting – and somewhat frustrating drives to work lately. One can only listen to the same litany of traffic delays and weather cancellations so many times.

What is a ‘Burgh commuter to do?

Put the pedal to the metal and press play on the audio books, baby.

Before we moved to Pittsburgh, I had a job where I drove two hours – each way! – to work.  Public transportation, sadly, wasn’t an option and nobody else was crazy enough to live nearly 80 miles away from the office, as I did.

So, do the math: four hours behind the wheel every day, multiplied by five days, buys you 20 hours of quality audio book time every week.

I did this for three years.  

That’s a lot of audio books.

Fortunately, here in Pittsburgh my commute is much shorter (and my weekly gas and coffee bills much less expensive), but my love for the audio book is just as strong. I find that listening to an audio book is calming and a nice bridge between work and home. There’s a sense of productivity, too; when I’ve read a chapter or two while languishing in yet another daily backup at Camp Horne Road on 79 or on the Vet’s Bridge, I feel like I’ve accomplished something.

If you’re new to audio books or if it has been awhile since you’ve given them a try, these suggestions might be helpful:

• At the Library, we have audio books in various formats. My preference is audio books on CD (I’m old school that way). Others prefer to download their books from OverDrive onto their smartphones or other devices (and if you need assistance with that, stop by one of our Gadget Labs where one of our librarians will be happy to help you out).
• A good narrator makes all the difference in the world. Some of my favorites are Scott Brick, Cassandra Campbell, and Jenna Lamia, just to name a few. Oftentimes, authors will read his or her own work.  Sometimes there is bonus material at the end, such as interviews with the author.
• If you’re new to audio books, consider shorter books to start with or  one by a favorite author. Audio books are also a fun way to revisit books from your childhood or one that you’ve been meaning to re-read.
• I always check out a print copy of the book along with the audio book. I know that sounds bizarre, but sometimes I want to look up a character’s name or re-read a scene for clarity and having the actual book comes in quite handy.

This week I’m listening to Pandora’s Lunchbox: How Processed Food Took Over the American Meal, by Melanie Warner, which – holy cow! – is this generation’s version of Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle.

Here are a few others that I recently listened to and can recommend:

Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted: And All the Brilliant Minds Who Made The Mary Tyler Moore Show A Classic, by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong (read by Amy Landon, 11.5 hours). Fans of MTM and those who hold a certain nostalgia for television’s Golden Age of Comedy may enjoy this retrospective, which gives equal time – if not more – to the female writers and the cultural shifts that shaped “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.”

I’m Looking Through You: Growing Up Haunted: A Memoir, by Jennifer Finney Boylan (read by the author, 9 hours, 30 minutes). A poignant memoir about identity and becoming one’s true self. The symbolism of growing up in a haunted house on Philadelphia’s Main Line is interwoven with Jennifer’s quest for acceptance of her personal ghosts and discovering herself.

Next to Love, by Ellen Feldman (read by Abby Craden, 11 hours, 23 minutes). A sweeping historical fiction World War II novel that follows three couples and their families through multiple changes, both in their personal lives and in society.

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America, by Erik Larson (read by Scott Brick, 14 hours, 30 minutes).  Set in the midst of the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, this is a gripping tale of mystery and intrigue about a little-known part of America’s history.

Want more? On the CLP website, we’ve compiled lists of audio books.

So, while the winter weather may be putting a damper on our abilities to get from here to there, why not make the trip  more pleasant by bringing a book along for the ride?

Beep-beep, beep-beep, yeah!

~ Melissa F.

Finding the Good in Winter

 “A man,” said he, “must have a very good opinion of himself when he asks people to leave their own fireside, and encounter such a day as this, for the sake of coming to see him. He must think himself a most agreeable fellow; I could not do such a thing. It is the greatest absurdity — Actually snowing at this moment! The folly of not allowing people to be comfortable at home, and the folly of people’s not staying comfortably at home when they can! If we were obliged to go out such an evening as this, by any call of duty or business, what a hardship we should deem it; — and here are we, probably with rather thinner clothing than usual, setting forward voluntarily, without excuse, in defiance of the voice of nature, which tells man, in every thing given to his view or his feelings, to stay at home himself, and keep all under shelter that he can; — here are we setting forward to spend five dull hours in another man’s house, with nothing to say or to hear that was not said and heard yesterday, and may not be said and heard again to-morrow. Going in dismal weather, to return probably in worse; — four horses and four servants taken out for nothing but to convey five idle, shivering creatures into colder rooms and worse company than they might have had at home.”

Mr. John Knightley, traveling on Christmas Eve to Randalls, in Emma, Jane Austen (1816)

It’s too bad that the holidays fall during the winter months, my least favorite time of year. It’s cold, it’s long–how can days that are so short make a season seem so long?!–it gets dark out early, the trees are bare, colds and flu are rampant, and traveling becomes difficult.

As I get older, however, I’m trying (very hard!) to make the inevitable winter not quite so arduous.

These things help:

• Holiday music, especially traditional carols sung by John Rutter and the Cambridge Singers and Tchaikovsy’s The Nutcracker

• Reading, especially historical romance novellas I can read in in one sitting

• Hot chocolate (this vegan likes hers with raw cacao powder, stevia, & soy milk)

• Hot salted popcorn (made on the stove!)

• Taking St. John’s Wort and Vitamin D daily

• Daily exercise and walking brightens my mood

• Laughing: reading the daily Dilbert  comic app on my iPhone

• Going home every month for a long weekend, easing my homesickness and is something to look forward to

• Having proper warm clothing, which means trading my cotton sweaters for wool. As my fellow blogger, Irene, once quoted, “There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes.” *

How about you? If you dislike winter, how do you make it more bearable?

~Maria

*I tried but could not find an original source for this quote. It has been attributed to explorers Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Roald Amundsen and is also thought to be a popular Scandinavian proverb.