In which we are one week into the New Year

Nine days into the new year and it has been relatively normal and not at all as scary as I thought, for my family at least. It’s funny how one day can make a person’s worry skyrocket. I do know that there have been many tragedies this week, and I’m keenly aware of the fire in my home state of California. My family is safe as far as I know, but many others aren’t. I hope it will be over soon.

In our new year, we celebrated two of my sibling’s birthdays, endured a one-day stomach bug, and readjusted to Honey Badger being back at work. (His grandfather passed away, so he had several weeks off for bereavement and the holidays.) We have an out-of-town wedding coming up this weekend, so my brain is preoccupied with preparing for that as well as general home management.

I was asked to bake a pie for the wedding, which was an honor, but also made me feel very nervous about making sure I followed food safety rules and didn’t let my toddler eat it. I almost succeeded at keeping it pristine before it was picked up by the sister of the groom, but my toddler did manage to get his cute little fingers in it and break part of the crust. Oops.

Today was a very gray day. I spent most of it inside, in the kitchen. Apparently, it was a stuck-in-the-kitchen day, but I did my best. One full size pie, a dozen and a half hand-pies, and two dinners. That’s significantly more than the one dinner I usually eke out. In the afternoon, I was burning hot. The oven had been on most of the day, and I’d hardly taken a break. I learned about luften, a German practice of opening your apartment in the winter to balance the humidity and reduce mold, so I do that a few times a week.

Little Lion was so happy to go out on the porch and play, so after I dressed him up in some more appropriate garb (the short-sleeve shirt wasn’t going to cut it!), I left him to play. My bad. Guess who chucked all his trucks and cars over the railing? Yup, Little Lion. I was annoyed, but also, it was a great excuse to get out of the kitchen and get some fresh air. I was yearning to get out, and couldn’t give myself the chance. Maybe he knew that in his intuitive way. So we rescued his vehicles and had a lovely walk around our block, enjoying the fresh, chilly air.

The lake has thawed and refrozen countless times in the past week, and today it was frozen. Hundreds of Canadian geese stopped off for a quick break on their migration, so the sound of their honking was very loud outside. The large flocks and family groups arriving and departing throughout the day were majestic, winging in with a precision and grace known only to birds.

Sometimes, I wonder how many of those geese are our geese- the ones who take up spring and summer residence and raise their chicks on the shores of Shadow Lake. Have they already flown South, or are some of them still hanging around, annoyed by all the tourists? They’ve probably flown South by now, since we’ve had days without any geese at the lake. But it’s fun to imagine them with the same annoyance that I might feel when the World Series fans clog up the roads in June.

I digress. I actually still have a few things to prepare for the wedding. I’ve recently become concerned with “dressing properly.” I never really learned how to do that, but in my estimation, it includes wearing a slip with a dress. I don’t have a slip, and it’s more cost effective to make it myself. Am I good at sewing? Ah… well, the last two items I made look real, but man, was I stressed the whole time!

I would say sewing is fun, but extremely challenging for me. It requires both precision and patience, and I’m more passionate and a bit chaotic in general. But I love to be creative, and I enjoy making designs. I think once the project is done, I feel a real sense of pride and it makes me forget the stressful bits a little.

So, I leave you here. I’m going to go at least get the pieces cut. Perhaps I’ll leave the actually sewing for tomorrow, since it’s a bit late and Little Lion is in bed.

Good night friends, see you next time.

Sierra