The Snap of Winter's Welcome
And so it arrives. The hose spigots are covered, the water to the shop is turned off and the water lines have been drained.
The small drafts at the front and back door call attention to themselves in the evenings, reminding me with that wispy stream of cold air coming in the house that I do indeed need to get around to getting the weather stripping improved.
More than 4 cords of the firewood pile sit unbucked and unchopped, staring at me with a glare of judgment as if to say “you had your chance”.
Winter has technically not started yet – it’s still a month away. And yet it’s already snowed and I’ve already scraped the windshields many times. However one looks at it, the result is the same: summer is gone.
So many unfinished projects sit in the center of my good intentions. The all too common trend of my reach exceeding my grasp rears its head again, and the consequences of not following through with some of them are already apparent.
Already my mind has shifted gears from the garden, which is no longer producing anything (no fall or winter gardening until we get a greenhouse), to getting the shop organized and fixing its few roof leaks. Not needing to mow the grass every week means I can focus that energy on other things — fixing things around the house that have been a low priority, thinking about the long-term vision for the property and how we want it to look and feel and grow over time, and just enjoying the warmth of the wood stove with the seasoned firewood pile I did manage to cover before the weather turned. Naturally, I have been spending more time inside and that has caused me to slow down just a bit. It’s been nice. I love Oregon for its distinct seasons and the different rhythms each of them calls for.
Are there lessons to be learned from this? Honestly, not really. Time management is always a problem when you have a family, a full-time job, animals, and a home with property. There will never be enough time, so don’t do what I did for so long – don’t beat yourself up about it. It’ll all get done eventually.
Just do what you can, do your best, and prioritize things that are critical (safety-related, preventative maintenance, preventing potential issues that will cost you $$).
Oh, and enjoy lots of wood fires and hot chocolate and time with your family! We’ll just be over here doing the same (while raking tons of leaves and getting the garden ready for next year!).
