I'm calling this one Window with Reflected Lamplight in Bare Trees. We're supposed to get some actual winter weather today --- according to the friends we met last night at the pub, the stores are all out of milk and white bread (Why white bread, said C. Is that what you get for emergencies only?). I have not been to the grocery store, so if a blizzard blows up we will just have to take pot luck with what's here. Fortunately what's here is kind of a lot. I really could have a pantry January, buying just milk and eggs and cooking my way through what's on the shelves and in the freezer. In the event of a snowmageddon, we won't starve.
Got up this morning and wrote a whole poem in iambic hexameter couplets --- rather a gift. It's probably terrible, but it is a truth universally acknowledged that when you first write something that comes out entire like Athena from the head of Zeus, for a few hours anyway it is the best thing you've ever written in your life, and you are permitted to bask in its deceptive glow for as long as that delusion persists.
I need to walk the dog, then settle down to some essay-writing for next week. Thank goodness I actually have only one piece still unwritten for next week's Substack, but I need to do some research and make headway on a more substantial essay on Hopkins' "As Kingfishers Catch Fire" for the week after. I'd like to get firmly ahead of the game, especially as I'll be traveling a good bit in February: first to Thomas More College in New Hampshire for several days, then to Texas later in the month, for about a week, to take in a conference as well as a visit to the progeny there.
Wearing today (and really it was all I could do not just to put on the same things I've worn for the last two days):
*Wool& Audrey dress (S) in Black Heather, bought November 2022, last worn January 4. My most-worn dress of last year, with 30 wears. Wears to date in 2025: 2
*Thrifted teal cashmere sweater, bought September 2023, second full season of wear.
*Thrifted cotton Liz Claiborne blue pullover, bought so many years ago I've lost track --- really not sure what season of wear this is now. Possibly a tenth? I might truly have had it that long. No idea.
*Snag merino tights in Silver Lining, bought fall 2021, fourth season of wear.
*Devold wool socks, bought in Norway June 2023, second season of wear.
*Xero Tari boots, bought summer 2022, third season of wear.
Cotton of course is not that great a fiber for our winters --- it absorbs moisture without being insulating. It's like the opposite of a great fiber to wear outdoors in damp cold. But over layers of merino and cashmere, I thought it would work. I do like this sweater a lot. The color is terrific, my most enlivening shade. It makes me feel energized on an otherwise dull and dulling day. And with these layers, covered overall by my new down parka (Christmas gift from my mother), I should be plenty toasty outside.
If the weather gets really wet and nasty, I will switch out these leather boots for my waterproof Sorel boots --- I bought them for these occasions, and I will look forward to having a reason to wear them, if such a reason materializes. I really hope it does, to be honest. I haven't seen a good snow day in several years. The last one we got in this area was three years ago, when I'd taken the youngest progeny back to Dallas, where it wasn't snowing --- but the roads home were so bad that I was stranded there for a couple of days nonetheless, returning at last to the sad remains of what everyone told me had been a beautiful snow. I'd like to see such a snow for myself and enjoy the delicious sensation of being stuck at home in it.
I also wish it would start up soon, because the Artgirl had planned to drive to Boone today to see a friend, and it would be nice if that were obviously out of the question, instead of either having to talk her out of going (and then having it not snow at all, so we just look stupid), or else letting her go, having it start to snow, and then having all the worry of her being out in it. A decisive move on the part of the weather would be welcome right now.
Anyway. I did experiment with pinning this sweater up underneath to make it less bulky and boxy.
I had only one big safety pin, and it would have worked better with two, but basically what you do is cross the hem over itself and pin it underneath. I saw a reel on Instagram about this last night, but did I save it? Sadly, no. Anyway, yeah, from some angles you eliminate the sense of bulk, but from other angles, clearly you don't. You haven't eliminated the sweater's bulk, just rearranged it, and it felt a little dodgy to me.
Then I tried the old hair-tie method, where you gather the hem into a tail, secure it, and flip it under.
Again . . . dodgy. The bulk does not actually go away. This is not actually a cropped sweater. It's okay from this angle, but if I turn, it becomes obvious that I'm carrying a small medicine ball under my sweater, and that just seems dumb.
In the end, I decided what the heck. It is what it is, and I like it as it is.
The heck with the dubiously "flattering" fit. What do I want to flatter, anyway? For whom am I getting dressed here? Some person who doesn't already live in this house and know my podgy old body for what it is? Forget that. I'm comfortable, I'm cozy, I'm wearing a color that makes me happy. If that's not enough, then something is low-key wrong with me.
And hooray for wool dresses. I love linen, and I enjoy wearing it even in the winter, but the fluidity and warmth of a knit feels good to me right now.
Getting my money's worth out of these claw clips, most of which I have owned for some years now, so that's also good.
Onward.
1:40 PM:
Snow starting to fall.
Also, I have just bought my first used clothing item for 2025: a pair of vintage Levi 550 jeans (100% cotton, no spandex or elastane) for $17. I was looking at my closet full of shirts and thinking: What if I had some jeans again?
I might have to plan a Jeans Day every week, just to reorient myself to wearing something that is not a dress or skirt. But I think I'll be glad to have this option.
Also taking some time today to put up more closet items for sale, now that all the holiday flurry is over. Reducing my skirt numbers, which makes adding a single pair of jeans an okay move, I think. I *could* wear a dress over jeans, but I can imagine really enjoying wearing a button shirt or tunic --- one of the number I currently own -- with jeans.
LATE AFTERNOON:
Been out in the snow to walk with Dora.
It's still coming down hard and fast, so we should have a gorgeous snowy night. Fun to be out in it, but nice to be back in the glowing warmth of the house.
I was toasty out, I should add, in today's outfit. I did change into my waterproof Sorel boots, which kept my feet nice and warm, especially on top of my Norwegian wool socks.