It's getting cold in here, so put on all your clothes

It’s getting cold in here, so put on all your clothes
It is getting so cold, I wanna put my clothes on

Hey, man! Happy Decemburrr! I thought I’d share a few of my favorite cold weather activities now that I’ve accepted the diminishing light and am no longer adjusting by listening to songs in minor keys while I do yoga and weep. Yay!

Stew. I love my husband’s delicious stew. I tried to get him to start a place called Lou’s Stews (we call each other “Lou” often), but that sounded too much like “Loose Stews,” which seemed gross, so I’ll just have to be one of the lone recipients of his bowls of hot heaven. And the public can be damned or continue to suffer in silence with chain stews. (Are “chain stews” even a thing?) Anyway — chicken and white bean is a tremendous comfort. Thanks, chicken! Thanks, beans! Thanks, Lou!

Brent's delectable Thanksgiving leftovers stew.

My cute fireplace mantle. Loving the conjoined twins and bearded lady dolls from Boise artist Arya Creates.

Fire. I just had a chat with the chimney sweep’s scheduler and hot damn is she ever busy. I guess everyone in Boise wants to have a clean flue now that December has wrought its frosty heft upon us. I guess I’ll just have to wait until the end of the month. In the meantime…

Hot tub. This is new to me. I did not grow up with a hot tub and I joked that everyone in Idaho had hot tubs and now it seems I’ve created a very cozy self-fulfilling prophecy. We are in the midst of week one of having a hot tub (which we got on “Idaho State Fair pricing” — how Western is that?) and I love it.​

Light visor. This is how I deal with my Seasonal Affective Disorder while looking like an accountant from the future.

​And, just like that photo shows, getting silly is my number one way to get through the winter months. It’s probably my number one way to get through just about everything. That doesn’t get us off the hook from feeling the feelings. But it will do.

As silly as I like to get, the weeping during yoga might not be over quite yet. We’ve got a few more months of hard-nippling and we’ve only just begun. But I’m doing something right in the yoga department, as evidenced by my cat below, who loves my trippy yoga room. Can you believe the sweet wonder that is this tapestry from Danielle Noel who made my favorite tarot deck (Starchild)?

What are some of your favorite cold weather activities? Favorite stews? Do you like to put your body in hot water? If I told you you had a nice one would you hold it against me? See? I felt a little draft on my legs and I had to get silly. Do you do yoga and weep? Too much? Too soon?