Christmas tree in midday sun.
Shadows and dog blankets on the study floor.
Three of our contingent departed this morning around 5:30, and we were sad to see them go. Our older son is still here until tomorrow --- when we'll say goodbye for the better part of another year, which doesn't bear thinking about, really, but the time does pass swiftly. That's a mixed blessing, of course, but a little consoling when people go away. It does feel a little strange not to be planning to turn up in Dallas with college students in a couple of weeks --- usually when I tell my older daughter and son-in-law goodbye, I'm saying, See you soon! As much as I'm relieved not to be making that big Dallas drive and losing roughly a week of my life in the process, it is a little sad to think that I'm not sure when we'll be together next.
Meanwhile, it's a gloriously sunny winter day. Dora and I walked a couple of miles on the greenway trail first thing, and now we're back, soaking up sunshine through the windows. I've written 715 words of my . . . new novel? . . . today already. The task of this story still feels completely daunting, and I'm already considering that to write it, I'm probably going to have to go to England. A nonfiction-writer friend of mine, Shemaiah Gonzalez, is making a writing trip there and staying in monasteries --- I've got to pick her brain about this, because she says it's not costing her much money to go. There are parts of England I can write about easily, because I've lived there, but I don't know the West Midlands at all, and unfortunately that's where this novel has to be set. I can guess at a lot of things (like I know how hawthorn smells in the spring), but although I managed to get away with writing about Shetland entirely from research for Works of Mercy, I think I'm going to have to take myself to the setting for this novel, because it really is the novel's setting, not just a setting filtered through a character's memory. Not being there won't stop my drafting the story, and fortunately there's plenty of research I can do online (Holinshed's Chronicles, for example), but again . . . this is seeming like a necessity, and I should really turn my mind to it in the new year.
BUT FOR NOW, I'm just getting dressed.
Wearing my trusty Wool& Sierra (with thrifted Icebreaker merino pink striped tee underneath, but not seen here), Snag merino tights in charcoal gray, thrifted green J. Crew cotton cardigan, and thrifted Birk Madeiras. Thought I'd see how long I could stand a hairband today --- mostly they just slip back on my head in a way I find annoying, but this bamboo one, which I bought last year sometime, I think, seems to be staying in place. My hair is super straight in this cold, dry weather, which is a change, but I'm kind of enjoying it. Here I am, first thing this morning, pre-headband:
Looking a little tired after a wakeful night, then rising early to see off the travelers before going back to bed again for a couple of hours. But hanging in. Mostly I wanted to test, in the morning light at my window, just how flattering this shade of green really is for me.
Well, it would probably be more flattering if I didn't look so miserable. I really wasn't miserable, just tired! But I definitely look more washed out in this green than I do in other colors, like teal and aqua:
Same me, same light. Not sure dark green does me any major favors. Might consider outboxing this cardigan --- though I've worn it pretty happily for a couple of years, so I dunno. Maybe it's just the day. But I have my eye on it.
As an outfit, though, I like this. I like the kind-of-academia-but-not-dark-or-steampunk feel. As always, I love my Sierra, the best dress ever ever ever --- which is saying a lot, because I love all my dresses. I love getting dressed in the morning, which is a thing I used not to be able to say. For too many years I really didn't like getting dressed. I really didn't put any effort into it. I looked like a schlub, which was how I felt, and how I felt I deserved to look. These dresses aren't what made me happier, but they sure do make it easier for happier-me to show up. They all do that, but Sierra is so absolutely reliable, so absolutely versatile, so absolutely comfortable and flattering (even if a lady at church did think I was pregnant a couple of weeks ago, to which all I can say is, lady, get your eyes checked). I love the heavier fabric, even in the heat of summer, and the structure that weight lends to the A-line shape.
I'm really thinking (again) that when I'm ready to acquire another dress, it will be a second Sierra. Maybe I'll also buy a long-sleeved top in the same color to wear under, to create a long-sleeved dress effect that isn't permanent. Kind of got my eye on Marionberry possibilities for Lent . . . but I also have plenty of time to think about it. And not that other styles don't also keep calling my name. Good thing I'm MAKING myself take time to think about it.
And, okay, time to go straighten up the living room, now that three people's Christmas gifts and shoes and laptops and other stuff are out of it.
LATER: Having seen Juanita's garnet Ellie dress, or at least a little peek at the color, I am now eyeing the Summer Midi in garnet with greater longing than before . . . Do I need a red dress? I think I might need a red dress. I could totally wear a red dress during my week in Houston this summer . . .
Also, on second thought, I think the green cardigan is okay.