Five Things
Well, Hurricane Nicole made landfall to the north of us, giving us a mildly windy night. We awoke to a beautiful and breezy Thursday. School had been canceled, but the place I work was open so my husband and daughter stayed home while I went to work. I thought I would stop at Starbucks on my way for a treat, but Starbucks was closed (WHAT.) When I got to work, it turned out that almost all my clients had canceled because they thought there was going to be a hurricane. ARG! Can we come to some sort of consensus? Are we open, or closed? I know that hurricanes can be dangerous and unpredictable, and the schools especially have to exercise an “abundance of caution” in these matters, but I propose that next time, we try being a little more reckless and see how that works out. Don’t get me wrong- I’m glad the storm didn’t hit us. I’m glad our house is intact and that we still have power. But this whole thing put me in a bad mood. I decided to follow the advice of Linus Van Pelt (from Peanuts) who said that the secret to happiness is having “five things to look forward to and nothing to dread.” Five things I’m looking forward to: 1. A trail run on Sunday. When I get really cranky like this, I know I need a trail run. It’s been over a week since I was out on the trail, and I can tell. Sunday is supposed to be a beautiful day- a little cooler and dryer- and I have a long run planned. 2. My son is coming home! My son will be home in eight days. The stretch from August to Thanksgiving is the longest we go without seeing him, and I really miss him. He’s a sophomore in college now, and it doesn’t get any easier. 3. Thanksgiving… kind of. I’m looking forward to Thanksgiving in the abstract, but I’m not really looking forward to all the cooking. Let’s say I’m looking forward to pie. For our family of four, we make three pies. Some would call that excessive but we think it’s just about right. One of these is a pumpkin pie (for me) made with no sugar, which I know sounds awful but is actually really good. 4. A book flood. Jolabokaflod, or the “Christmas Book Flood” is an Icelandic tradition of giving books as Christmas presents. This article describes how Icelanders traditionally give presents on the 24th, and spend the night reading. I want a Christmas Book Flood! This year, I’m planning to give my son a “flood” of sci fi/fantasy books for Christmas. He reread the Harry Potter books during the pandemic and told me it helped him forget all his worries (yes, that’s what reading is for!) and he wishes he had another series to get into. I’ve already gotten some great ideas from NGS, but if you have any suggestions for me, let me know. What’s your favorite sci fi/fantasy book? 5. A trip to Tampa. My daughter will be going to Tampa in January for All-State, and we’ve decided to make a family vacation out of it. I’ll get to hear my daughter play and also visit some friends we haven’t seen in a long time- they recently moved from Philadelphia to Tampa. I’m VERY excited about this trip, and am hoping it will help ease my post-Christmas depression. January is usually such a blah month. Linus was right- I’m feeling better already. Thanks to San for organizing NaBloPoMo! Can you think of five things you’re looking forward to? Don’t forget, I’m collecting ideas for great sci fi/ fantasy books!