A Winter Hodgepodge

Thank you, Joyce, for these fun questions.

1. What kind of winter person are you - snow lover, fireplace snuggler, winter adventurer, or indoor hibernator? Elaborate.

A view of our son's backyard covered in snow.

I am a southerner who is a snow lover, a fireplace snuggler, and, at one point, a winter adventurer.  I love our time in Northern Indiana for Christmas and New Years, and never tire of watching the beautiful lake effect snow as it swirls and blows.  I thrill as the snow mounds and covers the earth.  After my '25 fall and wrist surgery, I no longer feel safe in venturing out like I used to, but this doesn't mean I don't wish to.

2. The Pantone color of the year is Cloud Dancer, described as a gentle, billowy off-white shade. The color symbolizes 'peace, clarity, quiet reflection, renewal, and a soft reset'. Of the terms just listed, which do you need most in your life this winter? 

I will go with a "soft reset."  2025 was a rather difficult year health-wise.  Since I am feeling better, I hope to reset my brain and disposition toward getting out more and stretching myself in ways I didn't want to do last year.

3. Every cloud has a silver lining, on cloud nine, head in the clouds, storm clouds gathering, or cloud of suspicion...which 'cloud' idiom do you most relate to currently? Explain. 

Based on my previous answer, I will go with "every cloud has a silver lining."  I recently heard a speaker describe the difference between a cup half full and one half empty.  A cup half full means you are adding to that cup; a half empty means you are taking away.  So, this year, I choose to add things to my life, not deny myself of the joys that come from adding new things, thoughts, friends, inspiration, and love.  I pray that all my clouds will have a silver lining.

4. Coconut, cauliflower, cottage cheese, mayonnaise, onions, ranch dressing...of the white foods listed, which would be the hardest for you to give up? Do you like all or any of the foods on the list? 

Mayonnaise!  I am not a mustard lover, so I prefer mayonnaise.  I like all of the above except cottage cheese.  I also like my onions cooked, not raw.

5. Thomas Wentworth Higginson is credited with this quote-

"How many lessons of faith and beauty we should lose, if there were no winter in our year." 

Agree or disagree? Tell us why. 

I very much agree.  There is something about winter that nourishes my spirit.  I find beauty and energy in the chill of cold mornings.  There is something that creates a renewed sense of "home" when sitting near a fireplace, and hot drinks just taste better.  What would life be without turtle necks, warm sweaters, and boots?  Even though I've always lived in the south, I have always looked forward to the winter months and dread the heat of summer.  Regarding lessons of faith, my daughter-in-love exercises this every winter in the hope that it won't last forever.  Yes, so many lessons of faith and beauty would be lost.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

 While I was enjoying the single digits in Indiana, my friends in Texas were enduring the Christmas record-breaking temps in the upper 70s and 80s.  I came home to find my irises blooming and my pansies dead. That is no way to spend Christmas!

I hope to do a belated trip recall post in the near future.  We did so many fun and interesting things, so stay tuned.

Let the video below bring you inspiration and encouragement.

Mr. Gene