winter solstice

Happy winter solstice to you from Nova Scotia!  Tis the season to embrace your idea of cozy.

Time for my yearly wrap-up.  May through October were particularly busy (in a good way) social months.  Coming out of the second pandemic winter, I was full of energy for lots of visits with friends and family, road trips around the province, bike rides, camping, and other FUN activities including tubing down the Gaspereau River for the first time.  As planned, I got up to my tiny house about every other week during the summer.  More on those good times in the summer is an extrovert post.

During the summer, I also pretty much totally refurnished my one-bedroom apartment with vintage MCM Furniture, most of it teak—coffee table, telephone bench, small cabinet, dining table, desk, two end tables, two chairs, nesting tables.  Wow!  That’s a lot of stuff for one minimalish person—I’ll write a post soon on the frenzy and include some pics.

I did an exercise this year where, every Sunday, I wrote down one (just one) highlight of the week.  This month, it was a good memory jog to scan the running list, but it was obvious early on to this introvert that these highlights would all be social activities. 

September and October were particularly rejuvenating.  My friend and travel buddy, MAC, who I hadn’t see for three years, stayed with me in September and we did lots of road trips, including a four-day trip to Cape Breton Island (see details in the cape breton travel tangent).

Shortly after MAC left, I took to the road for another solo adventure to Ontario (visiting family in Ottawa and Mississauga) and a meditation retreat in upstate NY.  More info in the pilgrimage post.

After getting back from that trip, I joined a gym and started going to fitness classes again.  It’s been a long time.  What’s been missing from my routine was abundantly clear and I’m enjoying the challenge.  Oh!  And something new for me—for boosting the immune system, I did a cold-water swim outside in late October.

Nova Scotia got hit by hurricane-strength post-tropical storm Fiona on 09/24.  The Annapolis Valley, where I live, was barely affected, but north-eastern areas of the province, including Cape Breton, were devastated.  I am reminded of the impact every time I drive up to the tiny house—the side of the highway and rural properties are still lined with fallen trees and chain-sawed branches and trunks. 

So, winter.  One of my main focuses for the next three months will be cozification.  Some initial ideas are drinking more hot cocoa and turning on the heating pad frequently.  I finally followed through on getting winter floor mats for my 17-year old car to handle snow and slush better than the original carpet ones.  And today on the solstice, I will be taking a Yoga Nidra (sleep yoga) class.  Seemed to me like the perfect way to say hello and goodbye to the longest night of the year and to welcome the cozy yuletide season! 

References and related links:

• MCM: Mid-Century Modern.
• MAC: Mon amie Caroline.
• summer is an extrovert (post #182).
• pilgrimage 2022 (post #185).
• cape breton 2022 (post #186).