Two years ago, we had a super-snowy winter that landed on the record books. Last year, we had a super-cold winter that landed on the record books. This year, we have a super-warm winter that’s pretty much the inverse of the prior two seasons. With no snow, temps between 40 and 60 and frequent bright sunshine, the last six weeks have been a definitive counterpoint to winters’ past.
As such, it doesn’t feel like Christmas. More like Easter. Which isn’t bad — the cats like sitting in my open bedroom window — but still.
I am looking forward, however, to my annual two-week vacation. For 16 full days — from the afternoon of Dec. 18 until the morning of Jan. 4 — I’m away from the hustle and bustle of the day job. I’ll probably spend the bulk of the vacation catching up on domestic chores, binge-watching Netflix whilst peddling away on my exercise bike, and opening the Caffeinated Press office to prepare for 2016.
It’ll be a good time to read, to write and to catch up. Speaking of which: This week, I’ve progressed from having roughly 1,500 emails (combined, all inboxes) to — as of today — less than 20 messages left to address. Let me tell you, it feels like an accomplishment, especially given that since mid-year, I’ve been on a roughly 10-day lag on responding to people given how much I was drowning in e-correspondence.
Anyway. Maybe I’ll put on some Christmas music and turn on the air conditioner, to start to generate the “feelin’ of the season.”