From Where I Sit

By Pat Spilseth, Columnist

Out with the old; in with the new. It seems that most folks think that January is time to get rid of the Christmas decorations including festive trees, wreaths, swags and cookies. Not me! I love to see the white twinkle lights on my tree still lighting the darkness in January. I hope folks keep the Christmas lights on their houses for several more months. More light in our dark winter is so nice. To me, even the colored lights are pretty in February.

It’s time to reread and savor the cards and family photographs that friends from afar have mailed to you. When people merely sign their names to a card, I feel a bit bad. I want to hear about their lives, especially if I haven’t seen them in years. When I miss cards from folks I usually hear from, I can’t help but have some worrying thoughts. Hopefully their cards will still arrive. After all, it’s only early January.

New Year’s resolutions reveal that we have endless hopes for a better new year. We want out of old habits; in with new hopes. We want to lose weight, eat better and exercise daily. However, by February many of those resolutions have lost the motivation we had in January …

At the neighborhood skating rink tossed trees are beginning to stack up as people want to sweep up the needles and eliminate that ugly fear of fire from dry trees. Out with the tree; now is the time for scented candles, soft music and new books to read by the fireplace.

As I walk through the neighborhood, I notice that some Christmas trees remain in front windows of a few homes. My friend Celayne says she keeps her tree up until Twelfth Night, January 6. I still enjoy the lights on my tree for the month of January. I’m stretching the holidays this winter…

One of my resolutions this year is to read new authors, trying to moderate my passion for detective mysteries. Old habits are hard to shed; the familiar is so comfortable. I still enjoy William Kent Kruger, Daniel Silva, Grisham and Balducci, but it’s time to open myself to other authors and new subjects. I’m reading Isobel Allende’s novels this month.

I’m trying to act on that old refrain of out with the old by cleaning my closets of clothing I haven’t worn for several years. I’m filling bags of blouses, sweaters and pants for the thrift shop. Someone can get good use out of my stuff.

“Out with the old; in with the new” seems to be an endless refrain for many things. Charming older homes in my neighborhood are almost all gone, and new McMansions are under construction. Though the new homes are lovely, I do miss the older variety of housing styles from when we moved here in 1980. There were spacious lake homes probably built in the early nineteen hundreds if not earlier as well as cabins, modest structures and interesting styles that didn’t all look the same. The latest loss was a property of three older lake homes. I miss their sprawling lawns and Adirondack chairs lined up overlooking the lake, waiting for family.   

I guess the old/new refrain works the same with people. Several folks have  moved out of the homes they raised their children in; younger couples are moving in with kids biking, roller skating and selling lemonade in the summer; today they’re skating and skiing in the fresh snow. Some older couples are building spacious homes hoping their children come to visit. Others are checking out senior housing with one level homes and no stairs.

The refrain continues. “Out with the old; in with the new.” Though my kids are grown and moved away, my neighborhood is once again alive with energetic, smiling and laughing children. Though many of us are older and retired, new energy has arrived in the neighborhood. The park across the street is once again alive with children and dogs playing, sliding on sleds down the snow covered hills.

Have a healthy, happy 2023!

   

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To contact Pat, email: pat.spilseth@gmail.com.