dog days of winter

I know dog days refers to the hot and sultry days of summer, but I think winter should get its due with a comparable spell of days. I found this on Wikipedia:

The dog days continued through the early 19th century to be perceived as foreboding a time of evil, wherein "the Sea boiled, the Wine turned sour, Dogs grew mad, and all other creatures became languid; causing to man, among other diseases, burning fevers, hysterics, and phrensies," as described by Brady in his Clavis Calendaria (1813).

Yeah, that's it. Burning, fevers, hysterics, and phrensies. (FYI. Phrensies is an obsolete spelling of frenzies.) You could probably look back over my ten years of blog writing and see this same theme repeated in January year after year. Sigh. It is not the peak of my biorhythmic cycle.

I decided yesterday that I had enough of sitting in the chair in my pajamas until noon. I got out my calendar, made a list of things to do, and I was busy all day. One of the things on my list was #3) Watch Doc Martin and knit. Check that one off.

I made soup, I made bars for dessert, I took the last of the holiday stuff to the basement, I went to the store for poster paper and to mail a package, I made two appointments. I was not a complete loafer.

Today I am sorting my mysteries since I spent an hour last night reading a book I had just finished a month ago. I regret to say (sort of) that I seem to have re-acquired my book hoarding habit. Sigh. My little library is stocked with books I bought at the thrift store, many of them old favorites that I have parted with over the years. It's hard to not go out there and fetch them back into the house.

We had an ice storm last night that left a sheen on everything and prevented safe travel by foot and vehicle. During the night, it was covered with some snow so it is much better today. School started late but the transit is operational.

I watched about an hour of the news this morning, trying to be more informed while avoiding insanity. It was interesting. One of the journalists said that Americans are exhausted from this crap. No kidding. I had to shut it off when they started talking about the nominee for Secretary of Education. A guy can only take so much reality.

Aside from sitting, I have been knitting. In the last two weeks, I knit a pair of leggings and two pussy hats. We had a hoot of a time trying them on and taking selfies last night.

I had the delicious privilege to be present when our newest grand baby Easton was born. Words can't describe how exciting and emotional it was to see him take his first breaths. It was something I will never forget. Even the dog days have some wonderful surprises.

I'm watching an episode of Doc Martin, soaking red beans for soup, and looking over my bread recipe. Sandi is coming over later so we can work on our signs for the march on Saturday.  The ice is melting, there have been a few birds at the feeder, and we're warm and cozy in our little house. Life is good even in the dog days.