Friday, December 5, 2014

Day 337 ~ Fireside Chat

December 3, 2014

My Instead: I “took a break” on my deck at night in the cold with my torch tower and a cup of hot tea and a blanket.
Believe it or not, I sat at my kitchen table with my laptop for almost 12 hours today. Diligently working on personalized gifts for my family for Christmas, I was unstoppable…okay, maybe even a little bit obsessed. Who does that?
Needless to say, I was ready for a much-needed break at 10 o’clock that evening. Not unusual at that time, I was also on the phone with Annette. While talking to her, I happened to be on my deck pulling out two “seen their better days” Wandering Jews from my planters. Doesn’t everyone do that in the dead of winter on a cold, dark night? That is when I got the idea for this “instead”...break time on my deck. My torch tower had not been lighted for several months, so I thought it a good time to see if it still works. It did!
A cup of hot green tea and a blanket joined me on this cold windy evening in December. I sat there under a cloudy sky with a full moon peeking through the clouds at me. The large branch hanging from my neighbors swamp oak tree hung over me, threatening to break off with each gust of wind. It didn’t! The torch’s flame danced to the same tune as the steam from my tea. Looking like a burrito wrapped in my blanket, I gazed and dazed and talked to my girlfriend until we both realized that mornings come sooner than we hope on most tomorrows. Good-byes were said, flames were snuffed out, doors were locked. I crawled into bed under my most-appreciated Solaron blanket. That is when I discovered that my feet were chilled to the bone. It took a while for them to warm up enough for me to even get to sleep. Oh well, I’ve had “cold feet” before…this time though for good reason!
 

No comments:

Post a Comment