Wintry weather has arrived! We have had a little bit of snow, a little bit of chilling wind, and a little bit of sunshine. Not a bad start to the cold weather season, not really.
Last week we ate the last of the ripened green tomatoes. The only fresh produce from the garden that is left is a large blue hubbard squash. We enjoyed the small squash with our dinners last week. So that will be an end to harvesting and preserving for 2025. Our thoughts are already wandering towards the spring of 2026.
We continue to walk daily. During the cold months the undertaking is much more involved than at other times of year. Layers of clothing to don, and to shed, make for time consuming preparations. Adding to this routine are my knee braces, worn underneath trousers, requiring disrobing and then dressing again. Our biggest concern though is what is underfoot once we set forth. Frequently roadsides and sidewalks are covered with ice. If footing is truly treacherous we walk at big box stores instead. If it is merely dubious, we walk very slowly, so that the walk seems to take forever, and is much more tiring.
The complexity of dressing for the outdoors is contrasted with the relatively sedentary nature of day-to-day life indoors where it is warm. At the beginning of the cold season this feels cozy, and can be quite pleasant. For me, by mid-January, snow and ice and cold seem annoying. By the end of February the same feels slightly oppressive. If this weather persists well into March it feels very oppressive. Luckily, where we live now, March usually brings us some signs of spring, which lightens the spirit considerably.
And so we settle into our cold weather routines, with Winter just a few weeks away. It won’t be long until the days will begin to lengthen, rather than shorten.
One aspect of spending so much time indoors during the winter is that Attila is always near. He spends a good deal of time in the kitchen, as do I, so that we are able to chat more often during the day. His winter projects are less scheduled and intense during the winter months. There are few pressures in the cold weather as demanding as gardening in the warm weather. A winter project can be easily set aside in order to pursue some other interest, or just go take a break.
Ginger is busy being a cat. He loves his universe to operate according to the order of things, really this is his order of things. He subtly rules the house. There is a time for Attila to sit with him for a good belly rub. There is a time for me to refresh his water bowl; this, and refilling the food bowl, are of paramount importance, no breach in service will be tolerated gladly. There is a time to oversee us in our kitchen duties, lying regally on the carpet just outside the door, where he can keep an eye on our every movement. There is a time for me to sit in my easy chair and work on the computer or read. Ginger knows when all of these things should occur during the day, and he is quite willing to volubly direct us to play our part. Ginger loves the winter routines, when we are both close by. I love cats, Mist and Ginger in particular, two very different souls. To know them is to love them.
Worldly
Weather
-2°C
Date: 3:00 PM EST Tuesday 2 December 2025
Condition: Mostly Cloudy
Pressure: 101.3 kPa
Tendency: Falling
Temperature: -1.8°C
Dew point: -5.2°C
Humidity: 78%
Wind: NE 15 km/h
Wind Chill: -7
Quote
“The deeper sorrow carves into your being the more joy you can contain.”
Kahlil Gibran
1883 – 1931
Ah, cats. It’s cold and rainy here and I’m in big trouble because we have two cats and I only have one lap.
LOL, Wendy, that is a dilemma! MIst did not like sitting on a human’s lap, and didn’t really like being petted very much. She liked to cuddle up beside us and lick our hands, that was her thing. Ginger loves to cuddle on a lap, BUT the hands have to active, rubbing his belly or brushing his fur, and this can only cease when he is sated and has fallen asleep.
I don’t walk outside when the weather is extreme, with severe cold and/or ice. Too much chance of falling. Instead, we tend to need the odd ingredient for various meals, or something like filters, or dog food, so we do our walking in the big stores.
Recently, I found myself with a pretty strong headache on 2 different days. I just happened to look at the weather stats and it turned out we had very extreme high pressure 103.3 kPa and 102.9 kPa. That’s not surprising for me, I seem to always get headaches when the pressure is really high.
We’ve been taking our time with decorating for Christmas. I think we might actually be done. I love having my favorite Christmas things out for the holidays!
Teri, walking at the big stores when conditions for walking are hazardous is such a great option, we often do that in the winter months. It isn’t quite the same for us, as we usually walk at a very fast pace (no dogs to accommodate), which is inappropriate inside a store. When I was in cardiac rehab they had me recording my heart rate during walks, and I had to get it within a certain range, and for me that meant walking briskly.
That is interesting about the high pressure triggering headaches, I haven’t paid much attention to the pressure, something interesting to explore!
We haven’t started decorating for Christmas yet, Attila has it on his radar and will begin with the outdoor lights on the front porch. Most of our ornaments were gifted to us over the last few decades, getting them out is always a walk down memory lane.