Hiatus

These are my doldrum days: the days between Christmas and New Year, when I am becalmed in a sea of tranquility. My sails are furled, the hatches battened down and I can relax and contemplate life with no ripples or storms to bother me. My horizon is set very close and I feel cocooned in a good space: short days, and long dark nights spent with a good book in front of a warm fire.

How different I feel at the arrival of January 1st with an ocean of 365 days stretching ahead with unpredictable weather and possibly rough passages. Then my horizon will lie far ahead and suddenly I will feel the chill of uncertainty.

Now I have only three days left until I set my sails and lift the anchor. Until then I will settle comfortably with my book and and my knitting in front of the fire.

Will somebody please pass me the chocolates?