Country Roads

 


There are animals such as bears, chipmunks and groundhogs that hibernate throughout the winter in a warm, cozy spot. Some manage to store away food needed to eat throughout their stay. Like the migrating birds do to avoid the colder winter months, my husband and I in years past have traveled south during the hardest winter months. However, this this winter we remained hibernated, so to speak, in our warm and cozy farmhouse.

Mostly our hibernating consisted of sitting in front of a burning fireplace reading a book, putting together a puzzle or getting caught up on doing some hobby that had been long neglected. There were constructive times of cleaning kitchen cabinets, going through clothing no longer worn and putting items in boxes to take where most needed. Changes were made in the wall hangings on the main bathroom walls, and magazine piles were reviewed and removed or stored. It was much like what some would call “nesting” happenings. Our farm home was becoming a place of refuge. It was a time to re-organize, recover and reset. It was a time to relax and appreciate the things around us all over again.

While cleaning kitchen cabinet shelves, a mixing bowl set was discovered at the back of the shelves. They were each a different color and each a different size from a big mixing bowl to the smallest of mixing bowls, all nestled inside each other. Mother had seen that each of her three daughters had gotten a set of these bowls. She had a set when she started her married life and not wanting her daughters to know which set had been hers, she had purchased two exact sets and along with her set, gave them lovingly to her daughters. Why hadn’t my set been used more? Guess I was afraid of breaking one of the bowls, but mother had made use of hers about every day, mixing up pancakes, creating her cinnamon roll dough and in making her great potato salad. I vowed to use my set more and placed the bowls at the front of a cabinet shelf.

Some of my winter time was spent practicing and playing my piano. After rummaging through a stash of saved and boxed music, some of my father’s music books were found. Excitingly those books were pulled out and played on the piano again. Kitchen curtains were washed, ironed and hung again. Older family photos found their way into photo albums. A couple pieces of furniture found a different spot in the living room. A recipe book that had been given to me by my mother-in-law was found. For hours I poured through the recipe book looking at the marked recipes she had used. I vowed I would make some of them, but never seemed to find the time. This time, I made time.

While thinking of ourselves as being truly hibernated, we did get out once in a while. We ate out once in a while, attended church or social activities, visited friends and relatives, and did our usual shopping.

This winter made us appreciate all we have in our country “burrow.” As the beginning of March begins, it means Spring is around the corner, providing more time for outdoors. We will soon leave our hibernating mode behind us.

 

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