Five Things to Remember from February

Here are five things I'd like to remember from February. Not all pleasant, but notable.

One. Sometimes it’s worth going into rooms you don’t go into often, just to make sure there’s no dead bird lying in the floor. It apparently fell down the chimney of a long-unused woodstove. I mean, if it had actually happened, which it did, hypothetically. And I guess come spring it’s worth looking into what happened to the screen over that chimney. Roy says it was an owl. I didn’t look too closely.

Two. There may come a day when I don’t enjoy shoveling snow—and for sure if I had to do it more often and for longer sessions than I do, I’d be less enthusiastic—but there’s also something reassuring about accepting snowfall in SOME places (grass, trees, rocks, lake ice) but not HERE or HERE (sidewalk, back deck, front porch). Control, but really an illusion of it, because we all know that the snow’s really in charge here.

Three. Two words: finishing sugar. I get it now. I don’t understand why people sprinkle straight cinnamon on a foamy coffee, but cinnamon sugar? Yep. I found gingerbread finishing sugar in November and have graduated, now that the holidays are over, to salted caramel. Not all the time, but certainly when the world feels especially bitter.

Four. Would I ever clean my coffeemaker if it didn’t bug me every sixty brews? Hard to know! (It isn’t; I wouldn’t.) I enjoy having a clean coffeepot and don’t mind the cleaning (running a pot of half-vinegar and then finishing with fresh water). Would that I felt the same way about more parts of this household.

Is that a dying poinsettia reflected in the window?
Why yes, yes it is. What.

Five. At some point in December I bought those bulbs you force, and in January I finally got around to starting them. I’m not sure the hyacinths received the right kinds of attention at the right time, but the amaryllis is going like a house afire. So we’re on amaryllis watch. They’re doing their job—requiring care, so I have to think of something/someone other than myself, changing visibly at a time of year when winter feels endless, and adding some life to the house.

Books. Over on Instagram, I (still) (for now) post about (some of) the books I read. In February, I posted about The Book of More Delights, by Ross Gay, and Bewilderment, by Richard Powers. I'm @marionagnew there. 

Here's hoping February has brought you some memorable--even pleasant--experiences!