Winterlude: How To Negotiate This Weird Week Between Christmas and New Year’s

I am currently on Winterlude. 

Winterlude is that weird week between Christmas and New Year’s when I don’t know who I am or what I should be doing. 

Where am I? How come I can’t think straight? Why is everyone getting on my last nerve? Why am I so fucking tired?

When these are my questions, I know it’s time for some serious solitude. The word Winterlude is a mashup of Winter and Solitude. Now you know what to call it.

But what do you do with it? 

My preferred way to spend Winterlude is to take an Airbnb alone for about a week just to recalibrate and chill.

During this time, I give myself permission to sleep, read, write, think, plan, or just stare out the window. I have no agenda and no timetable.

 I’ve tried to do them at home, but it doesn’t work. Too many dogs and too much laundry keep staring me in the face.

This year, I took myself to Ithaca, NY, my happy place.

Here is the living room of my Airbnb as it was advertised.

And it looked just like this when I walked in yesterday afternoon. 

My sole intention for this week was to live for four days like an animal: sleep when tired, eat when hungry, track any random ideas, patrol the outside environment at least once a day, and stay minimally connected to any static on the internet.

I brought a lot of stuff from home.  I think of the contents of this massive rolling duffel bag not as stuff, but as options.  I took three trips to the car to unload all these (ahem) options. 

Here’s what I packed:

A small suitcase of clothes, two dead tree books, a  Kindle with multiple juicy unread downloads, a down-filled throw blanket, a lap desk, a candle, a mug, special coffee and tea, plus my Bonvita gooseneck kettle. 

Oh yeah, and a deck of Core Values cards.

I also brought my Edge light from home because the lamps in this place are definitely for decor, not reading.

I stopped at Wegmans on the way in for food: blueberries, eggs, half-and-half, quinoa-and-kale cakes, soup, water, two onion rolls, and a small tub of soft Kerry Gold butter. 

I also got myself a bouquet of flowers and a vase to put them in.

Here’s how I found my place:

Here’s how I fixed it:

After I unpacked, I had dinner with Zee at Simeon’s. It was first-rate on all accounts: food, wine, and conversation. I had the salmon, and she had the chicken parm. Our conversation was more delicious and nourishing than the food. As always.

I also had a fantastic and new-to-me Cabernet Sauvignon called The Critic. This is what the bottle looks like:

Bwahaha. I’ve fallen in love with my Twisbi Eco fountain pen lately, so this hit me where I live. Move over Freakshow. This is my new fave Cabernet.

Now, as I write this, it is 7:30 PM on Day One. I feel sleepy. have been in my pajamas since 4 PM and now I plan to read until my eyes close.

Happy Winterlude, dear readers. I hope you, too, can find some solitude for yourself this week. 

I wish you time to do what you really want, and give yourself what you really need. 

Rest, nap, color, read, knit, get lost in a jigsaw puzzle, become one with your couch, but mostly do it without guilt, insistently, and without apology. 

You have my permission. It’s Winterlude. It’s time to squirrel deeply inside yourself and rest. 

Here are some random pics I took today. I am looking with slow eyes. Can you tell?