My friend January

Poor January. It really is at a disadvantage, following Thanksgiving and Christmas, with just one day at the very beginning of the month that causes a stir. It's usually gray, and most often raining; nothing is blooming, and the only things the produce department at Safeway has to offer in January are boring, old apples and oranges.

In the past, I've behaved badly toward January, wishing it would just hurry up and go away already. But then last year I made a New Year's resolution - which, as it turns out, is a life-long resolution - to love January. I decided to love it for what it is, and to find the things in it that make me thankful and glad for what is happening right now, instead of stomping around all month in a temper because the sun sets early and I'm not able to wear flip-flops. A stupid waste of time, really, to refuse to see the wonderful things in the present, because there are always wonderful things.

And so, in no particular order, the things I've been enjoying this January:
- Tea. Lots and lots of tea. Earl Gray, raspberry, Mint Medley, strawberry, Orange Spice, and on and on and on..
- A big, beautiful collage made from the the Christmas pictures that came sailing through the mail last month
- The quiet and rest that comes with a calendar that is not packed to the hilt with holiday hooplas
- Reading old Donald Duck comics in bed with you-know-who:
- Time enough for working lazily on Valentines
- The first weeks of a reading schedule which is guiding me through the whole Bible in a year
- The hope of sparkly, new life to old picture frames, with sand paper and metallic spray paint and a little bit of elbow grease
- Our valley, always lovely no matter the month or season
- My snow boots, which I kick around in all the month long, even when there isn't a snowflake in sight
- Skies like this: