So long, 2022...

31 December 2022: Looking forward and looking back, with Big Thoughts abounding, I am thinking about these words tonight:

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." --Philippians 4:4-7

(Also: seven years of at least one post per day here--admittedly some of them "catch-up posts." Not sure what kind of record I am assembling here, but that's a pretty good streak.)

0-10, but...

30 December 2022: Another "L" for the women's basketball team today, but this time, I think the score really didn't reflect the effort (though the winning team really pulled ahead in the end). I think it must be rough for them to be going through this season (win-less so far and not a single game has been close), but I was pleased to see them seeming to have fun out there at times. Proud of them for just trying, trying, trying and playing the game they love. 

"You can say things like, 'Tell me your life story...'"

29 December 2022: "With strangers, you can ask the questions you can’t really ask the people you know. You can say things like, 'Tell me your life story.' My girlfriend and I are getting closer to proposal age, so I told them our love story. Trey had a girlfriend, so he shared his love story, too. Michelle is a grandmother, so she talked about how long she had been married to her husband. We got to know each other pretty well."

Just really charmed and moved by this piece on Slate about strangers driving across the country together in the wake of all these canceled flights. 

Step one...

28 December 2022: Going to be kind of cryptic about it so as not to jinx it, but with Hannah's help, started a bit of a process today that might end up being a good thing. 

Good news from Rocky Point...

27 December 2022: Glad to hear (directly from them) that my parents both seem to be improving, though my dad is still a couple of days behind my mom. I was worried; the unknown is so scary with this unpredictable virus. But I feel like we can breath a bit easier now. 

3 years and 1 day...

26 December 2022: Just hit 10K for today which means my streak is now 3 years and 1 day. Really hard to believe. 

The strange thing is that on Thursday, right before the really cold weather started to move in, as I was finishing my walk, I told myself that the streak would end on Christmas Eve. There was just no way I could imagine getting it in. It was supposed to be bitterly cold on Christmas Eve morning (before I got in the car to drive to NY)--too cold for an early morning walk. (Like, wind chills in the negative teens.) And then, by the time I got to NY, it would still be too crowded and busy inside, too cold outside, and, when things got less crowded too cold and too dark. So, it wasn't going to happen. And I was okay with that. A weird kind of relieved to have the streak end for a good reason. 

Came in from my walk, looked at my phone, and saw the texts about COVID in NY. 

So, thanks to that (and three days of cold where most of the steps accumulated inside, walking in circles around the house), the streak continues--for a kind of sad reason. We'll see how long it lasts...

Christmas 2022

25 December 2022: It certainly wasn't the Christmas I thought I'd have, here in WV when I thought I'd be in NY. It was quiet and a bit strange and a bit sad at times, but I was blessed enough to get invited to Pennsylvania for Christmas dinner at Eric's parents' house with them, Erin, Eric, and the girls. It was really lovely. Home now hanging out with Veronica watching the Call the Midwife Christmas episode. Still worried about my parents (who I have watched so many of these specials with) and hoping for better news from them tomorrow. 

Just me and my girl...

24 December 2022: Just me and this nugget on Christmas Eve. So far, a very chill day: movies, TV, pacing around the house to get steps in (still really cold out there). I am not sure how happy she is to have me here--she misses Wesley so much, refuses to see me as a substitute, and often walks around crying at me--but I am happy to have her.

"Umm, okay. No possibility of taking a walk today."

23 December 2022: My post's title comes from my thought about a block into my walk early this afternoon. Though it was in the 30s at around 7:00, by the time I set out, the temperatures had plummeted 20 degrees. (And right now, it's 6 degrees out.) The wind has died down, but at 11:00 a.m.? I struggled to walk. And then I thought, "Okay, maybe just a quick walk the other way" and found myself being blown forward. And the cold was intense. 

So...see the post's title. (Yes, a shout-out to Jane Eyre, too.)

Still managed to hit 10K today, almost entirely from pacing around the house on writing and chore breaks, with an assist to the brief trip I took to Food Lion. 

Christmas in...West Virginia...

22 December 2022: Well, my mom tested positive for COVID today, so that means no Christmas trip to New York. She seems okay so far, which is what matters most--that she feels better soon and that my dad stays healthy. Still, it is strange to not be headed up there in a couple days. It's different than 2020, when we knew for a long time that it wasn't going to happen. 

Just an incredibly tough few weeks, after a tough and challenging semester. And a rough few years. 

Still, still, still, though: we (me, my family) are blessed. It's worth remembering when things are hard, not because it makes the hard stuff go away, but because it just true and there is comfort in that truth. 

524...

21 December 2022: Along with a bunch of smaller tasks, I had a goal of writing 500 words of my Piatt entry today (modest, I know) and by golly, got 524 done. In my defense, that included the first paragraph, which is always kind of a bear to get right. Hoping to knock out double that or more tomorrow. But for now, I'll be happy with 524.

Filling station!

20 December 2022: I didn't even notice it at first, but I am delighted that one of the water bottle filling stations that some colleagues and I won a grant for has been installed in Knutti. 

Spring syllabizing...

19 December 2022: Spent some time today getting my syllabi ready for next semester (which starts in exactly three weeks). It's comforting work, especially when there aren't any new preps--just updating things, making little (what I hope are) improvements, dropping files into place, and getting excited about seeing the students again. I was supposed to spend more time writing my Piatt entry, but my mind just wasn't there and checking a bunch of things off one of my to-do lists makes me feel a bit less anxious about that one part of my life.   

"Everything will be all right..."

18 December 2022: Another essential holiday re-watch for me: Call the Midwife's 2015 holiday special. I remember watching it when it aired on Christmas day nearly seven years ago and just smiling and sobbing. Watched it again today and Sister Julienne's line to the panicking Iris--"Everything will be all right"--once again had me tearing up. (Every time, I want to believe she was saying it to me, too. Ha!) When she tells Iris, still mourning the baby she lost 22 years ago, and wondering how she can love another child, "Love is not going to be halved. But doubled," the tears just flowed. (It's also a really important Patsy and Delia episode.)

Wrapping to Elf

17 December 2022: This evening, I wrapped all the Christmas gifts so far (a few more to arrive/to be purchased) while watching Elf. I think this has become a kind of annual ritual--quiet, relaxing, with just a tinge of melancholy (but what isn't carrying that tinge these days?). There are worse ways to spend 90 minutes or so.