Hello Everyone and Happy February! This is going to be a short post this week because there really hasn’t been too much going on. We had a pretty decent snowstorm this week here in Washington which has kept things pretty quiet and close to home. I’ve enjoyed the visual change of pace the snow has brought and also enjoying it with my little buddy, Mason. I’ve been struggling with depression this week though, which I’ve managed to keep at bay for much of the last few months and I can’t say I’m thrilled by its reappearance. All in all, though, it’s been a pretty quiet week.
Towards the end of last week, Mason and I went on some really long walks around his neighborhood which we both really enjoyed. On Friday we zigged where we normally zag in one spot and 20 minutes later found ourselves on the shore of a massive (by D.C. standards) pond. It had been pretty cold, so the surface was frozen solid and we stood there and talked about ice and water for a long time. Then we threw some sticks which skittered across the surface to our collective delight. Big rocks managed to crash through the surface, but only to make a divot. While I was holding both of his hands above his head with my feet planted firmly on the boardwalk just in case, Mason took a few slippery steps across the ice. For a kid who loves the water, I think this was a really cool experience.
Our week ended with our usual end-of-week basement celebration. Last Friday we celebrated Up-Helly-Aa, the Scottish Viking Fire Festival. We started with drinks and sea shanties in the basement and then played a nice game of Muggins (dominoes). Then we came upstairs and had a nice fire in the fireplace. I had made a delicious Scottish potato-leek soup and some bannock (skillet bread), and both were perfect for a cold winter night. It was another successful celebration! These next two weekends we’ll be bringing it home to Louisiana to celebrate Mardi Gras before seeing where our virtual journey takes us next.
Saturday was a beautiful sunny day here, but really just bitterly cold and windy. It was a shame to not be able to go and enjoy it somewhere, but it really was unpleasant to be out in. Late Saturday night it began to snow and continued through much of Sunday and on into Monday. It was a very nice, dry, light snow which was easy to shovel but made for a pretty scene outside. We were all a little surprised at the amount of snow we got, but as I mentioned it is nice to see something a little different looking out the windows.
It snowed through much of Monday and Mason and I were out to enjoy it. It was still pretty cold outside so we didn’t spend too much time out in it, but I enjoyed watching him enjoy just touching it, picking it up and throwing it in the air. Yesterday we tried our hand at sledding and snowman building, neither of which went exactly according to plan and I think I pushed it too much by trying to have him enjoy the snow in the way I wanted him to. Today we just went and did our normal routine, but with snow, and he seemed to enjoy that a lot more. We went into the woods so he could see some of our favorite spots in the snow and because he had his snow boots on he could put his feet in the creek for the first time since early October. That put a smile on his face. We also spent some time looking at tracks in the snow – mostly from people and dogs, but it was fun explaining how you could tell a lot from a track. For a kid who grew up in this city, I think I know a fair bit about the natural world, and I’m really enjoying passing some of that along to another kid growing up in the city. We capped off the day by looking at other people’s snowmen with Mason critiquing the facial decorating decisions of the artists. I know he’ll spend a lot of time inside as he grows up and I’m really happy he has been able to watch the seasons change this year with a lot of time outside. This snow has been a really cool part of the winter for him to experience.
As I mentioned in the intro, I’ve been struggling some this week. While it’s been a tough year all around and it’s had its ups and downs for all of us, I’ve had a couple of bad days here. I think a part of it has been missing my morning walk and the exercise and release that come with it, but it’s just been too icy out and I’m still staying away from the gym. A part of it has been the cloudy skies and lack of sunshine. Part of it is knowing that it was two years ago today that I saw “that girl” for the last time. While I’m definitely over her and past that chapter of my life, it sucks that I had just reached a point where I thought I could move on when this all started and that there isn’t even a hope or possibility of meeting someone new in the midst of all of this mess. At the end of the day, that part of me is still incredibly lonely. Part of it is feeling the days slip away and often not making any progress at all on many of my projects. I know (or hope) that soon I’ll be out of here and I’ll look back and wonder what I did with all of this time when I could have been making real progress on my book (which I haven’t written a page of in 5 months). I’ve kept a lot of balls in the air this year, but I’ve struggled to maintain focus and purpose and bring things to completion and that’s depressing to me. And a lot of it is just my internal chemistry which is subject to bouts of depression no matter what the external circumstances are. Anyways, last night I caught up with some good friends from different parts of the country on Zoom and that made a small dent in the dark. Today I’m feeling a little better and I’m hoping I can pull out of this in the next few days. I’m very grateful for the friends and family I have around me, but there are huge parts of my life which can’t move forward while I’m standing still.
Beyond that, it’s not been traveling weather so I haven’t gone anywhere. I’ve started a new season of The Amazing Race on Prime which picks me up a bit. I haven’t been playing any music, but maybe when I finish off this post I’ll give that a whirl. We’re going to be switching Dinner and a Movie to Thursday from now on, and tomorrow we’ll be watching The Shawshank Redemption which is always a good one. This weekend we’ll be celebrating the Cajun side of Mardi Gras which is definitely different from the city side of things. I’m working on some photos from Grand Canyon which I hope to publish this week as well. Other than that, I’m just trying to keep my head above water, y’all. I know there’s a light at the end of the tunnel and soon it will be spring, I’ll have my vaccine and I can move on with my life. That’s a good thing, but right now some days are better than others. I’m going to close now and try and have a peaceful afternoon doing some positive things. Y’all have a good week out there. Stay safe, stay warm, and I’ll see you right back here this time next week. Thanks for reading.
-Mike