TheBanyanTree: Easing Back into Real Life

[Margaret R. Kramer]

One of our Christmas 2003 remnants is a lonely unlighted deer in the front
yard.  His stakes were frozen into the ground and I couldn’t pull them out.
I was able to yank out the extension cords from the snow, so he’s not
connected to any power.  He’ll stay dark and stuck in the yard, a gentle
reminder of Christmas past until the ground warms up enough to release the
stakes.

The other remnant is our green and red plaid Christmas tablecloth.  Its
subtle presence still gives our dining room a festive look but only until
Saturday, wash day, and the tablecloth will join the rest of our clothes for
a bath.  Then it will be folded and put away until next Christmas.

With Ray’s help taking down the Christmas tree, coiling and tying the light
strands, and going into the crawl space and organizing the totes as I handed
them to him, and vacuuming up the pine needles, we were done by 2:30 pm.
The joyous clutter of Christmas was gone and we could officially begin 2004
with a clean look to our home.

New Year’s Day was a gray day.  It wasn’t cold, but not exactly warm either.
It wasn’t a day that drew people outside.  It was very quiet as I was taking
down the outside lights.  I could hear the birds, mostly chickadees, as I
worked.  At dusk, I saw several bright red cardinals fighting for position
at the birdfeeder.  And when it’s warm, the mourning doves cluster around on
the ground at dusk, too.

I made time to read during this holiday break.  I’d curl up in front of the
fireplace at odd times and just read.  I finished the fifth Harry Potter
book, so now I’ve read all of them.  These books are fantastic, just like
everyone says they are.  J K Rowling doesn’t write at a child’s level, the
characters have complicated interactions with each other, there are several
plots that wind and twist together, and she made the Hogwarts world seem
legitimate.  These are great books for children and will definitely help
with their reading skills.  I hope my grandsons will read these books
someday.

I’m reading another great book called The Winter Solstice by John Matthews.
It explains how Christmas as we know it came to be.  It’s really a
hodgepodge of many customs, going back to ancient Egypt.  If anyone is
curious about the Mummers parade that took place in Philadelphia yesterday,
this book will explain where that came from.  Fascinating stuff.

I’ve never listened to audio books before, but I bought A Christmas Carol by
Charles Dickens to listen to in the car on my long drive home.  The man who
is narrating it is the same person who’s done the Harry Potter audio books
which I’ve heard are also very good.  In spite of the old writing style and
I get distracted sometimes when I have to dodge wayward drivers, I’m drawn
into the story.  My mother used to read aloud to me a lot, and that’s how I
feel as I listen to the story.  Even though I know the plot by heart, I’m
not on the second haunting and I can’t wait until Monday’s drive home to
find out what happens next.

Well, I quit smoking 2.5 years ago, so that’s not a resolution anymore.

I exercise regularly and I’ll be fighting the “January people” at the club
for a month or so for parking spaces, equipment, etc.  A trainer from the
YMCA said on TV last night that many people get frustrated with the January
crowds and use that as an excuse to stop working out not realizing that
these crowds begin to thin out very quickly in February.

I don’t like the weight I’m at and would like to lose 20 more pounds, so I
bought the South Beach Diet and have been reading that.  I don’t think I’m
going on the diet as it is, but I’m going to incorporate some of the
principles in it to work on losing a bit more weight.  I really do need to
eat a lot less carbs.

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at earthlink.net

http://www.polarispublications.com
Be a star!

http://www.bpwmn.org
Business and Professional Women of Minnesota

A New Year's resolution is something that goes in one year and out the
other.
~Author Unknown