Bitter Cold Morning Routine

I’ve written here about my “normal” morning routine. It used to involve reading or listening to the news—now I’m doing a kind of Benedictine hours thing sent to me by the monks at Assumption Abbey in Richardton, ND. We’re in Ordinary Time.

It doesn’t feel that way. Whenever I check in with friends from Chicago or at work here in Okemos, they all say the same thing: They/re stressed out from the news aka REAL LIFE CURRENT EVENTS.

I hate to say it, but stop paying attention.

If the news is killing us, killing our will to live, then we have to ignore it for our own well-being. This isn’t the same as not caring. We can continue to care and read The Sermon on the Mount. We can care by taking care of ourselves and helping others as best we can.

So first thing in the morning after I wake up, turn up the heat, take the thyroid pill and my Vitamin D3 gummie, and start my kettle for tea—I go out onto the deck in only my long johns and thick sweater and shovel the overnight snow.

There’s usually always overnight snow.

I shovel my pattern of clearing the little deck in front of my door, then an outer edge around the third deck and the steps to the shed and the little landing where we step off to go into the garage, then the second deck, and finally the one closest to my daughter’s back door. I also do a little walkway to the recycling bin.

It’s been like Canada or some Nordic Arctic Circle scenario lately. All the snow and darkness and morbid resilience. It’s to the point that we’re used to winter now with no idea what it used to feel like to walk outside without ten layers on.

Yesterday I went grocery shopping for the first time in 2 weeks and stocked up on canned goods, thinking I might not be able to get back out and would like to have at the very least soup starters.

Don’t get me wrong: I am eating good. A lot of cozy food with calories and thick stew-ey sauces.

 

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