The Post-Holiday Peace

It's funny. This first week of January I used to get a little blue. All the excitement being over and that sort of thing. But this year I'm pretty damn content. Oh sure, the world's a mess and crapola keeps happening, there are still worries (Strider starts vacay tomorrow and i won't really be at ease until she's home and dry) and stupid little annoyances (just found a dirty pan in my oven; it was absolute torture to extend my phone cords today). So what? My Hobbit home is reasonably clean, there are chops in the oven, Beest sleeps in the sofa cushions and while the winter wind whistles down the Brandywine, it's warm and bright in here.

Here we'll spend the cold and snowy (maybe) months, Beest and I feasting on roasted meats. Bundled in quilts and bedclothes, my mind far away in Westeros or Frostfangs, Beest snoring and dreaming of supper, we'll spend the long nights. Here at my desk we'll spend our days gazing out the window, my hand on her back, her purring with little chirpy noises.

It's a peaceful interlude in The Shire. There is war ahead but that's not now. Now there's quiet, and good meat, and companionable repose. Yes, I like this time of year very much. And I'm very glad to just be at home.