Staying Calm
It’s the time of the year when our weather just seems to stand still. The days are damp and rather dreary in the most part. They are still getting shorter and I see that the time my Mum would have referred to as “lighting up time” is now before 4pm. One might think that such still, misty weather would make for a quiet, contemplative state of mind, but that’s something I find is not something to be taken for granted.
For example, many of the roads in our corner of the world were not built for 21st century traffic. We live at the top of a steep hill, originally used by farmers to bring wool down to the mills in the valley and driving up and down needs care and more than a bit of common sense. I posted a picture here recently (in this post) of the war memorial at the foot of this hill where a large traffic sign overshadows the memorial somewhat, but yesterday was proof that however large the sign, it will be ignored. Those smallish delivery vehicles can squeeze through with care and some patience from other road users, but anything larger really does struggle. So the vehicle coming up the hill could not pass the white van and stopped for a while in the hope something might happen. Worse than that, behind the brown vehicle is an even larger lorry which couldn’t even make the turn at the foot of the hill (by the war memorial) without almost everything else moving out of the way to make space. I will leave it to your imagination how incidents such as this impact on the mood of the drivers involved and how both those vehicles managed to negotiate the bend on which I was stopped and from where I took the photograph. Think calm! Stay cool!
Having successfully negotiated the big outside world yesterday morning, I felt happy to be home again. I smiled then as I turned over the page in my Teddy Advent calendar this morning. This is an old German calendar which tells the story of a small bear looking for adventure. I’ve left it in the box for a couple of years but thought it was time to enjoy it again and read how Ted is making a bit of a getaway through the open door but is fearful when he sees the hustle and bustle outside. I think we all feel a bit that way from time to time after the last few years!
I must say, I haven’t felt the urge to go crazy with all the Advent things this year and have just taken one or two things out from time to time.
I’ve tried to ring the changes and put some old favourites in different places too. Our bear, Olaf, was quite happy to stand and hold this calendar of memories instead of putting it on the kitchen table where it has usually been.
That’s mainly because the kitchen table is home to the advent calendar I bought in Weimar, which contains a different incense cone for each day.
The house itself came flat-packed and the roof, which houses the cones simply needed a fold to hold the whole thing together. Clever.
The first day’s cone was scented with Frankincense, yesterdays with pine and today’s is Zimt - cinnamon. It’s another effective way of creating that cosy atmosphere I’m looking for.
Because really, it would be so easy to get caught up in unnecessary panic even here at home. I can’t be the only one to receive twenty or thirty emails every day “reminding” me that there's only x hours left for some special offer or other (that I have no interest in) or that today is the last chance to buy/book/reserve an unmissable deal. I dealt with that by threading beads onto a very long string, one component of this year’s Christmas card. Whilst it was undoubtedly a wonderfully therapeutic activity there was always the element of mild peril lurking. What if the thread broke?! (Thankfully, it didn’t!)
That slight anxiety has been replaced by “what if the postal workers strike means they don’t arrive on time?” The answer is, of course, then they will arrive late. Thankfully, the good wishes are not time-constrained and will be as sincere and well intentioned whenever the envelope is opened.
from WallChart.co
There is one place where I can usually find peace and quiet and when this image appeared on both my IG and FB feed last week, of course it chimed with me. On Friday the post-swim conversation was about the peace to be found in the pool and how, in spite of the cold and dark early mornings, we all left in a calm and positive frame of mind. I will, however, stick with my bright blue, clean and chlorinated swimming pool water and leave the duck ponds and gravel pits to everyone else!
