Winter after Christmas

Almost all the Christmas things are down and put away, but I've left up the greenery.  Greenery is still appropriate at this time of year, when everything is new and hopeful.  The season has passed, the lights are taken down.  So it's more important than ever, I think, to keep out the staleness of winter, sweep out the lingering dead scraps of last year.

I identify this period with Scandinavia, of coldness without holiday, but with a magic all of its own.  The vast, ancient north that Lewis and Tolkien cherished.  White expanses of mystery, snow, and things hidden, remain to be seen.

My taste in housekeeping is heavily influenced by Scandinavian folk culture.  Maybe you've noticed.  I like color, rich and pigmented, and hand-painted details.  Wood and intricate carvings.  Knitted accents, baskets,  snowflake geometric details.  Balanced with linen-white, to keep it fresh.

I hope to have a home fortified against the cheerless world, the way I imagine the folk art of many cultures fortifying and strengthening their people.  I guess, as a mutt American, I have to borrow from other cultures to accomplish that.

Saint Valentine's Day things are beginning to appear.  A day of fertility, celebrating love and beginnings: the day after my son was born, and the day of my (adopted) godmother's birth.