Change

Keep Your Head in the Clouds

Jeanna GLeave a comment

My first post was written just over a year ago. The pandemic had just begun, and people were starting to wonder how long it would actually last. “When will life be normal again?” “What is the new normal?” “When can I do the things I miss again?”

As we pick up speed, build up our endurance, and decrease our social distancing, I implore you to remember what you loved about this past year. I know that at some point you thought to yourself, “I’m so glad I have time to do this again,” or “Gosh, I haven’t done this since I was a kid!” Yes, it will be fantastic to attend concerts and festivals, Broadway shows and indoor sporting events, but it will also be wonderful to continue making time for hobbies, playing, finding beauty in nature, and pondering life’s greatest questions.

This evening, as my daughter and I headed home from one of my work events, and I was in my own world processing how the day went and creating a mental to-do list, she says, “It’s a lamp, and the Genie is coming out of it.” It took me a few seconds to connect the dots, but I got there. Up in the clouds was a genie and his lamp. And then the genie became a dragon. And the lamp morphed into a witch’s hat. And with the clouds, my work hangover floated away.

Get out and do the things you missed this past year, but not in exchange for the things you loved about this past year. Find a new way to balance your life. Keep your feet on the ground and your head in the clouds.

Winter Retreat

Jeanna GLeave a comment

Back in middle and high school, my church youth group took an annual trip to Camp Squanto in New Hampshire for a Winter Retreat. The recent weather impacts across the country have me thinking an awful lot about that trip. You see, growing up in the Northeast, we expect bad winter weather so much, that it’s never really bad, because we’re prepared. We can appreciate and enjoy the beauty of snow because, for one thing, when it arrives, it sticks around for awhile. Secondly, we know how to manage it efficiently, leaving time for play. So regardless of the weather, we’d still make the trip further north to camp, where we’d retreat from the stress of school, and play with our friends in the seclusion and serenity of a Winter Wonderland.

In the north there were 10’ snow banks on which we were kings. Sledding hills were covered in enough snow to ensure a smooth ride and cushion at the bottom. We would build snow forts, dig tunnel mazes, and have massive snowball fights. We could snow shoe and cross-country ski our way to the store. And the ice actually froze thick enough that we could fish, skate, or play hockey without worrying (too much!) about falling through.

Snow much fun!

One of my favorites memories of the Winter Retreat was playing Broom Hockey. We’d sweep off the outline of a large square on the surface of the lake. Everyone had a broom, and there was one ball. The game was won when one of the teams swept the ball all the way around the square one time. Sounds easy enough until you consider that everyone is slipping in their winter boots, and the other team is trying to steal the ball and move it in the opposite direction around the square. The games would go on late into the night. Then we’d tiptoe into the Dining Hall and warm up with hot cocoa before collapsing into bed.

I have so many sweet memories of the beauty and fun of my childhood winters, that living in the south in the winter leaves me feeling rather rueful. The winters down here are cold with little to no snow. Lately we’ve had rain, freezing rain, ice, and more rain; not much to enjoy about that. Ironically, when most people move south to retreat from winter, I’d rather retreat to winter!

‘79 Vintage

Jeanna GLeave a comment

I like to compare my aging process to that of a fine wine. And what makes wine better with age? Flavor development. Flavors that were previously hidden make themselves known. The sugars and the acids come together to form something new, something even better. The same wine could taste different each year. Like wine, all the good stuff and harsh stuff in my life have made me who I am today, and I know I’ve been better some years than others.

As a child, I’d say I was a light white wine, and my flavor profile would be a combination of honey, stone fruits, and minerality, with floral and herbaceous aromas. Overall light and zesty like a Chablis!

Late teens and twenties I mutated into a Mourvèdre; meaty and full-bodied, difficult to grow, herbaceous, dark and spicy, dry, complex, bitter and astringent, but easy to enjoy, nonetheless.

My thirties transformed me into a Madeira. I was fortified with the Spirit. I was bold, sweet, and stable. A Mama Bear.

Now, in my forties, with a beautiful daughter who is coming into her own, I can, once again, do the same. The great part about this age and stage, is that I know I can, unapologetically, be whatever kind of flavor profile I want to be. So I choose a blend of old and new. Accessible (easily appreciated) and polished (well made) with great legs. A complexity that keeps delivering intriguing flavors with notes of minerality, petichor and, of course, nuttiness.

Looking back on my life, I’ve come to accept that some of the acids and some of the sweetness were beyond my control, but I know that I can control my reactions to all of it. I’ve learned from it all and know that, at the very least, I can choose the conditions in which I am stored (or restored). And as another trip around the sun is coming full circle, I like to think about how this next year might taste. And how might I make the following years even better? It’s time to get uncorked and find out!

What is your flavor profile? Or what would you change it to be?