On the Ninth Day of Blogmas: Winter Solstice

Today marks the true start of winter: the day that earth tilts furthest from the sun. It was the shortest day and longest night of the year, although I was none the wiser to its brief luminosity or everlasting darkness. I laid inside on the couch with the curtains drawn closed the whole day, coughing and sneezing and sweeping piles of used tissues into the garbage on repeat.

Day six/seven (ha) of this miserable cold. Normally, I look forward to the Winter Solstice. I know people tend to hate the winter months, but I see so much beauty in winter. I love the contrast between the cold outdoors versus the warm indoors. It’s a little enigmatic. To combat the dark skies, we focus on making our interiors brighter with twinkling lights and flickering candles. All of the best foods are eaten in winter, too — plenty of hot foods and baked goods. And sometimes, if you’re really lucky, snow falls and absolves you of your responsibilities for the day. 

I mean, winter is practically magic. 

Naturally, I was bummed out to miss winter’s official birthday. It’s not that I particularly celebrate the solstice, but I like the idea of new beginnings. There were a lot of things I was planning to do this weekend: finish the Christmas shopping, clean the apartment top-to-bottom, and even attempt to bake sugar plum cookies. Instead, I watched the newest Knives Out movie on Netflix (and thought it was good fun. I give it three-and-a-half stars!) 

Last year, I feel like I breezed through these blogs because I had already returned home to Connecticut to see my family for the holidays. There was so much happening everyday; the source material was endless. This time around, my Blogmas posts have mostly ruminated on sickness, sadness, or stress. For those who’ve stuck around for the posts, I’m grateful for your readership.

With just a few days of Blogmas to spare, I’m eager to cover a few key topics. I obviously owe you a true That American Girl post, as it’s been quite a while since I’ve shared my up-to-date Serbia stories (this post, however, will be separate from Blogmas). And I will, of course, report dutifully on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day activities. 

I’m hoping tomorrow brings some positives. Maybe snow?

That Blogmas Girl