One Down...

 

Eleven more to go in this year of 2022.

I had hopes that 2022 would be a good year; or at least a better year.  So far:  meh.  But I shouldn't be judging a year just by one month.  After all the next 11 could be fantastic.  (Cynical Bfth says:  don't hold your breath.)

The problem with January is we come into it with such high expectations.  The "old" year is over and we leap into this New Year and month with celebration, expecting new and great things.  Only they don't always happen; and they usually don't happen within that first month.  Or at least that is my experience. We expect so much of January and are disappointed when it doesn't deliver.

Once we get over the celebration of a New Year, January tends to go downhill.  Holiday decorations come down.  We clean and clear away the trappings of the festivities and are left with cold days which tend to be gray. Even when there is sun; it still arrives on our horizon later than I would like and falls much too quickly.  Is it any wonder I don't want to get out of bed in the morning and I am eager to crawl back in right after dinner?  Who the heck wants to go out do anything after dusk?  It's cold.  It's dark.  And, yes I have turned into a cranky old lady.  (Okay, I've been there for way too long.)

This January of 2022 has been particularly cold (or so it seems to me).  I know I live in NJ, where it is supposed to be cold in winter, but it's been colder than I would like.  And when iguanas are falling out the trees in Florida, I think it's colder than it needs to be on my coast.  I also get concerned when my parents at the shore (where there is usually little snow) get more snow than we do.  Our last storm was a Nor'easter; we got just under 8" and they got over a foot.  Meanwhile, in the Pocono Mountains there was little to no accumulation.  Maybe I'm living in the wrong place?  Seems like where I expect snow is where there isn't a lot; and places where I expect it to be colder are warmer.  But I'm writing about the month and not our climate crisis.

However, we have finally moved out of January and into February, the shortest month of the year.  Will it fly by?  Probably not.  Often the two months seem to blend into one another; into one long set of days.  Days that are cold.  Days that are gray.  Days of snow and slush and ugh…

Still, time is marching on.  We are moving day by day, step by step into warmer and brighter times.  Hopefully not just literally (spring is only 47 days away), but figuratively too.  We've been dealing with dark times for far too long.  As we move further into this year of 2022, let hope spring eternal.  

At least that's my plan.