Column: Greene Ink – A Plethora of Projects
2.5.10 – A Plethora of Projects
The last weeks of winter make themselves felt in ways more acute than mere chilly weather; before spring emerges, the continuous days-sans-sunlight compile upon one another in an almost threatening blanket of fog-laden despondency. Unwilling to be beaten by such morose diurnal overtones, like many of my fellow humans I’ve determined to keep busy.
As the garden is off-limits until better weather ensues I have noticed that the closets beckon as I pass by, coyly showing their more un-organized portions for addressing. Having reviewed a few books on organization recently (DIY Organizing for Dummies and A to Z Storage Solutions) I find that the best advice is simply to put down the book, toss out unnecessary items and get some actual work done.
Further down the ‘to keep busy’ list resides several home-improvement projects. Happily, one of these has actually come to fruition; at the end of December, my husband and I embarked on a small master-bathroom remodel, using only our own labor and an appropriately-proportionate budget for the current economy. The local building-products store provided cut-rate deals on a space-saving vanity and mirror combo; buying the floor model saved us 15%. We used a new product on the floors, a recycled-material floating plank floor system–guaranteed to be 100% water-proof–hued to resemble cherry-wood floors. It proved reasonably-priced and was remarkably simple to install. A more spacious, pleasant bathroom was the result, and the entire three-day process furthered the burning of unwanted winter calories.
On that note, “bad” diets plague most people I know during these Doldrums Days, but there are glimmers of light on the cooking horizon; more knowledgeable folks are publishing seasonal cookbooks, faceted with healthy eating in mind, such as Stonewall Kitchen Winter Celebrations from Stonewall Kitchens, a book which made the idea of winter salads more tangible.
The realms of crafts and arts cannot be ignored; Knitting and Sewing step out of their respective nooks and silently display their modern usefulness, along with centuries of supporting evidence. After reading The Alchemy of Color Knitting and Hat Heads, my daughters and I began learning to knit via free You Tube lessons with resounding success; the long, dark evening hours are a bit more charming with the subtle clicking of knitting needles and little faces scowling in concentration. I got a useable (and half-way decent-looking) pair of wool socks out of my labors, which on colder mornings I am quite glad to wear.
Reading and writing become close companions during these weeks, whereas in spring or summer, the outside plants have more claim to my attention; besides the weekly column and monthly reviews my husband and I are working on our eighth novel and have been doggedly re-formatting our books for paper self-publication. Not to ignore the simple pastime of reading, of the recent books reviewed, my most favorite proved to be the highly-informative A Splintered History of Wood: Belt-Sander Races, Blind Woodworkers, and Baseball Bats, which not only gave me some excellent ideas for future home projects, but displayed well to our children all the ways that wood cultivates art.
While waiting for springtime and solar-driven actives, one finds that merely existing does not suffice; winter doldrums are indeed quickly dispelled by a plethora of projects.
–Meredith Greene
