Winter

 

inspired by snow covered tree branches

We are having 'real' winter today.  The temperature dropped to -23C last night and today we are having a brilliant sun-shiny day.  The light is so bright that sunglasses are necessary as the light bounces off of every snow covered surface.

I am not so brilliant today.  Yesterday I started a new pain medication and as usual, the transition from the old to the new came with a few hitches.  

But now that I've connected the dots and recognize when the medication is causing problems - in addition to my actual physical conditions requiring pain control - I called a halt on the last 'new' med after just one month.  

In the meantime, I continue to weave, in part for my mental well being, but also because I tend to weave 'aerobically' (although no where near what I used to do) that I generate endorphins.

We also began the new in the midst of helping our neighbour, currently in hospital but doing 'better' today.  He has no family left and we have had a mutual 'distant' but respectful relationship since he moved into the house next door about 15 or so years ago.  And we were who he called when he needed medical assistance, and we are happy to watch his house and check in on him.  And help him when he gets home.

Because goodness knows, we can all use a little support and care when we need it.  Doug will do the majority of the 'caring' because I'm still not driving, and won't be until spring.  So Doug will have to juggle the two of us in his calendar.

The political situation continues to be...startling...insofar that the far right is moving swiftly to curtail the rights of those of us in the 'out' group, and there are shenanigans all over the place.  People like me - and our neightbour - 'old', retired, needing medical care, are in a precarious position, as well as others in society.  

I just hope that Canadians pay attention and make sure that we continue to be a society that cares about those in need.  

In the meantime I will stay home, try to get to the loom every day, stay creative and *con*structive, not *de*structive.  Because the planet can use all the positive energy that each one of us can contribute.  I may finish the current warp today and the weekend will be spent dressing the loom with the next warp.  All the yarn for the next article will be shipped next week, and once I have it in my hands I will begin working out what exactly I will be doing, then weaving the samples.  This article is going to require lots of samples again.  And I'm so intrigued with the topic, about which I have thoughts and conclusions that I need to put to the test, that I'm quite looking forward to go exploring.  

If I had to think about a 'theme' for 2025, it would, I suppose, be something like 'exploring boundaries' or something like that.  It will be a time to explore new things, put to the test some of my assumptions and see if my conclusions are accurate or half-baked.

With the world seemingly set to reject science and scientific thought processes, it feels right that I do my bit to keep people thinking and to encourage others to explore and learn.

Onwards.   We have a new year.  And, I suspect, an 'interesting' one.