sitting in

I find myself talking about my need to "sit in" things a lot lately. Sitting in my life in Burlington. Sitting in my job. Sitting in the changes that are out of my control. I'm feeling the need to just be. I rarely just sit. More often, I'm working on eight projects at once, not giving myself enough time for any of them, and planning for the next project. But, increasingly, I want to just slow all of that down and sit with the present. The holidays are an especially difficult time to just sit. There is not much more that I love in the world than Thanksgiving and Christmas. I love the hustle and bustle, the parties, the baking and gift crafting, the glitter, the snow. The whole world is busy, but with celebration instead of work. It's magical. Within the flurry, though, I'm trying to find the space to just sit in this month and soak it all in.

The Sunday after Thanksgiving, I visited my brother, Chris, in search of some quiet time in the woods before heading back to the "big" city. With his (extremely bouncy) puppy, Suzie, we set off behind his cabin. All the leaves are down. There's no snow yet. Stick Season. I love this time of year. Everything is so quiet and simple. There aren't any bright colors raising their hands in front of you like an anxious 5th grader vying for your attention. You're allowed to focus on the details and textures of the muted trees, the fallen leaves, the rocks.

The next morning I woke up in Burlington to our first snow.

Baking bread forces you to slow down. Dough needs attention every couple of hours, and it takes all day. You can't let your day fly by unnoticed and realize at dinner that you forgot to eat breakfast.

I'm going to sit down smack in the middle of all this. Take that, holidays.

.... I also gave my brother a quick knitting lesson before hitting the road. He's knitting blankets for shelter dogs... for realz. Get in line, ladies. This boy will plant you a garden, cook you dinner, and knit your pet a snuggie.