Brilliant Midwinter *

We had quite a lot of snow last night, so I skipped going to a friend's show (final weekend - I thought maybe I could go on Friday, but work went very late, probably people trying to have Monday as an actual work holiday per our skimpy USA holidays schedule; I didn't want to go last night and risk driving in a snowstorm in the dark on a trip that's almost an hour in good weather; and today I have a cold) and while it looks quite pretty out there, the temperatures are well over freezing so it's melting quickly.  One of my neighbors was out with her dog trying to play with a flying disc, which the dog would let land then dig out of the snow, and run around for a while with it in her mouth until my neighbor snagged it back and skimmed it again.

Having the cold means I am not getting as much done in terms of household chores today as naps seem to attack on a semi-regular basis.  But with chicken soup, naps, a sinus-warming gel mask, and Vitamin C in quantity, I think I'm ahead of this.  I have to be well by Wednesday when we have dress rehearsal for a show we're doing on Friday and Saturday.  I have only two smallish bits, which is fine with me, but it's a fundraiser for three local organizations so it's the one time I get out from backstage.

In the meantime, I've done some work on this year's resolutions and have been meaning to post an update since the beginning of the month, but have been traveling quite a lot.  I did finish one of the three books on my list, Jay Rayner's The Man Who Ate The World, and found it interesting.  In addition to speculating about what makes a meal a true experience, and the cost-versus-value analysis, he mentioned concerns about offsetting the carbon footprint of foodstuffs flown in for some of the meals as well as his travels to experience them.

I've read some other books as well, mostly lighter things such as historically-set mysteries.  And of course magazines, newspapers, and so forth.  An interview of Scott Kelly particularly sticks in my mind.  And I'm doing another clearing-out of cookbooks and such.

I need to combine my finished items lists, which so far include a couple scarves for Knit Your Bit and two hat and mitten sets for M4A grads, into a single list of "completed items".  I also helped our assistant director knit a Valentine's gift for her girlfriend:

Who, by the way, absolutely loves them.  The AD wanted to make a scarf, and I told her it probably would not happen in three weeks, so this was what we created with the amount she achieved.  As it happens, the girlfriend is also in the show, so trying to sneak around and get this done without people wondering if we were suddenly creating a triangle was a bit of an adventure!  Once the wristers were delivered all was clear, but we had a few difficult moments!

Once these we done, we did cast on again and a scarf might be ready by Christmas.  Then I'll get the AD working on a hat to complete the set.  She chose the yarn and buttons herself and did a commendable job for learning to knit just three weeks ago.

I missed Mardi Gras because I was at a customer site in Portland, Maine, but the team lead brought in Dunkin' Donuts in lieu of paczki and I had a final red meat meal before Lent began.  This year I gave up red meat, pork, shellfish, and baked pastries and desserts.  Knowing my sweet tooth I could not give up all desserts, just knowing that I can eat something if I wish makes it easier to not eat anything most of the time.  Of course there are times I go the other way, such as during tech rehearsal when one of the actresses brought in a platter of tembleque that her mother made.  I was very glad that pudding is permitted to me and a nice wedge of it was my lunch!


* The title of this post riffs on a Christmastime poem by Christina Rossetti:

               “In the bleak midwinter
                 Frosty wind made moan,
                 Earth stood hard as iron,
                 Water like a stone;
                 Snow had fallen,
                 Snow on snow,
                 Snow on snow,
                 In the bleak midwinter,
                 Long ago. ”