These cold days are quiet and sweet. I am trying this year not to immediately begin pining for spring and planting season. I figured I won’t even look at seed catalogues (oops) or plan out my garden (weeelll…), but I am enjoying the relaxation. You know, spring and summer is filled with baby animals, and digging, and planting, and harvesting, and watering every day, and preserving, and weeding, and more! Winter is for settling in and restoring. In the spring and summer we get more done because the sun is out. Right now in the freezing dark of suppertime we stay in. What do you like to do on winter evenings?
I am the self proclaimed rummy queen. It’s probably best because I am terrible sport! I used to play rummy with glasses of iced tea with my great-grandma. I remember double decks and a large table of family playing at my grandma’s house. I remember my cousin, Helen, teaching me how to play when I was eight years old on our way up to a cabin with my grandparents. Doug grew up playing gin among other games. Do folks play cards anymore? After dinner the past several nights the shuffling of cards can be heard from our dimly lit kitchen table. Laughter, music, and memories.
Winter is also the time to catch up on books! We love to read and we end every evening with reading and a cup of steaming tea. Right now I am reading, Meeting the Medicine Man by Charles Langley. It is out of print and I highly suggest you try to secure a copy off of Amazon. It is fabulous. I last read it ten years ago before I started working with medicine people. It is a glimpse into the world of the Navajo and medicine people. Of good and evil and the people that help keep the community safe and bring things back into balance. What are you reading?
My television is covered by a painting. We rarely utilize it but for our favorite show (The Voice) and football and the occasional movie night. It is more pleasant with it not being the center of attention. We are able to converse more easily, make more memories, and enjoy the ease of these lovely winter evenings.
Farmgirl School 
Ah, you are wise to cover your set. We don’t watch TV as such (can’t stand the programming inanity, commercials, and so-called news come-ons throughout programs. But typically spend evenings binge-watching something from BBC on Acorn. Sometimes (not yet this year, but hoping to get there) we play a board game or work on a jigsaw puzzle together. My grandparents loved to play Canasta and Rook and I remember playing those games with my family growing up but can’t remember the rules for the life of me.
I, too, am working hard–very hard–at not wishing winter away.