I can breathe now, right?

Well. To say it’s been a hectic autumn would be an understatement. I never realized just what a toll it was taking until the light at the end of the tunnel appeared. But now that the prospect of a nice, quiet Christmas at home followed by a sojourn somewhere warm has appeared, I’m suddenly feeling the effects of all the weeks of effort.

Ah, but this morning, I could actually sleep in. And so I did. No tyrannical alarm clock, no abrupt, shivering transition from warm bed to freezing larger world, and best of all: no darkness when I woke up.

The sun was already up. It was great.

Snow began to fall. A few fluffy flakes at first, followed by a steadier accumulation. We don’t even have enough to fully cover the grass, but a few hours ago, we had none. I watched it out my window. Not worrying or stressing, not even really thinking about anything except those countless tiny flakes.

Add a coffee and a newspaper, and you have the Saturday-morning equivalent of a long soak in a hot bath.

We can drive ourselves pretty hard. And our bodies are resilient things; they can keep up with the pace for a good, long time. But the sense of sheer relief I felt from relaxing made me realize that despite the rush you get from throwing yourself completely into something (and it is a rush- I won’t deny I’m a workaholic), you need those moments, those hours, those days if you can find them, where you just sit.

And breathe.

Ahhhh….

Arvik