There may be trouble ahead,
But while there’s music and moonlight and love and romance, Let’s face the music and dance.

The holidays have come and gone, bringing us a rum-soaked Feuerzangenbowle of Glühwein, of which I may have drunk more than my share.

Truth be told, I was more than ready for 2016 to end. There may be trouble in the year ahead, but for now I just want to do good work and be with the people I love.

We spent the holidays with my family in Minnesota, and I bought a bunch of spices from the good folks at Penzeys, made a huge batch of my grandmother’s Crinkle Top ginger cookies, and distributed parcels of homemade gifts. We don’t watch television, so I mostly missed the stream of commercials urging holiday shoppers to destroy the planet as they buy, buy, buy. But I’ve been feeling dissatisfied with over-consumption for a long time. It’s not so much that I’m being virtuous: mostly, I’m just bored with the hamster wheel of constantly wanting more stuff.

I’m hoping the kids enjoyed their homespun gifts, but more importantly, I’m hoping they’ll enjoy the thrill of creating things for themselves. Perhaps they’ll write books, build robots, bake cookies, design costumes, or grow tomatoes. A whole world of opportunity lies before them, and the possibilities make me giddy.

I taught my nieces a few basic embroidery stitches, and they each completed a stylish stitching kit. We also played a textile-themed board game called Patchwork, roamed through a frozen swamp in our snow boots, and rented ice skates at Centennial Lakes.

The ice-skating adventure was undoubtedly a mistake, as my mother stumbled over a rough patch of ice, broke her left wrist, and is now sporting a bright purple cast. I spent New Year’s Day alternating between panic and self-recrimination, but my mom is improving daily, and she’s confessed that her main source of torment is not being able to wash dishes. She’s definitely a farm girl, through and through.

Taking my mother to the orthopedic surgeon wasn’t the best possible start for the new year, but lately I’ve been energized by hope, and I’m hoping that 2017 will bring us good things anyway, despite the inauspicious start.

In my next post, I’ll share some of my plans for the year ahead, but for now, I’ll simply say that my editor has finished my manuscript, my cupboards are filled with books and yarn, and I have music and moonlight and many reasons to smile. It’s a good life. So let’s face the music and dance.

(Shown above: the only known photograph of me and Steve dancing.)