LIMINAL LIVING #105: 29 DECEMBER 2025 TO 4 JANUARY 2026

Birds, Books, Food & Drink, Holidays, Liminal Life, Poems, Slow Gardening & Living, Sound & Music, Weather & Climate, Wetlands

LIMINAL LIVING #105: 29 DECEMBER 2025 TO 4 JANUARY 2026

January 4, 2026

Weekly recap of my ritual of existence in this liminal space called life. (See here for more info.)

Weather

Weather was seasonal in terms of temps, with highs ranging from 32.7°F to 19.8°F, averaging 23°F, and lows ranging from 1°F to 22.1°F, averaging 10°F.

We arrived home from our trip south to the tail end of an ice storm that dropped 1.35 inches of wintry mix/freezing rain and left everything — limbs & branches, conifer needles, fences and weather stations — encased pretty thickly with heavy ice.

There was a lot of damage to trees and shrubs in town and we were without power for about 6 hours on Monday (though we were home for only 2 hours of that time — once home, we ran the portable generator until power was restored around 4 p.m.). Trees were still falling and dropping heavy branches onto roads and power lines through Wednesday.

New Year’s Day in particular was very cold; though the thermometer showed a high of 20.1°F, the “feels like” never rose above 0°F all day. We took a short walk that day to the USPS mailbox to mail a check for the plowing while we were gone and that was more than enough time outside for us. It’s a good time to hibernate.

Beginnings/Firsts

We set up the bird feeders for the first time this winter on Wednesday (the tube types) and Thursday (the “smart” Birdfy feeder and the round finch feeder); it wasn’t until Sunday that birds starting using them.

Wild Things (Flora, Fauna, Fungi) in addition to others elsewhere in this post

titmice on Birdfy (19-sec video)

Wandering

After arriving home from our overnight train trip from Savannah via Washington DC (then bus) on Monday afternoon, we were both under the weather much of the week, in more ways than one: my husband had a sneezing cold and I had a one-day fatigue/fever/headache event on Wed. (that tested negative for Covid or FluA/B), and the air temperature felt too cold to us for much walking, and the sidewalks and roads were icy. We managed to get out on Saturday for a walk around the lake, and I took a long walk in town on Sunday. Otherwise, we stayed inside under covers most of the week, napping quite a bit.

train photos (early morning Monday)

lake (Saturday)

Curiosity & Discoveries

We must be taking a break from curiosity and discovery after over-exercising those muscles in the previous two weeks.

Creating

We created a second Christmas 2025, on Saturday, 4 Jan 2026! Or that was the day we opened presents from family/friends and each other (except I didn’t buy any, considering our trip a mutual gift 😐). Here’s a metal sculpture my husband bought me that I love. She’ll go out in the yard in Spring.

Repairing and Maintaining the human(s), the cat, and the cars

Humans: As mentioned above, we were both sick this week, my husband with a cold that manifested mostly as sneezing and me with something on Wed. that manifested as a mild fever, fatigue, and headache. I was also very tired on Monday afternoon (after a sleep time of 4.5 hours on the train that night and a sleep score of 45!) and took a nap that afternoon, unusual for me. I slept almost all day on Wednesday between hydrating and DayQuilling. We had masked on all train and bus trips but it was probably inevitable we would end up with something as very few others were doing the same (and we heard a lot of coughing and sniffling). I took a Covid-Flu test on Wed. which was negative for everything. I woke up Thursday morning feeling fine, for which I’m grateful knowing how long some illnesses are lingering right now. I had a constant companion in my time of need:

I worked out twice (2 hours) this week. It was good to ease back into using weights and stretching after two weeks away. During the first four days of the week, I didn’t walk more than 8,000 steps on any day (and only 2,120 on Wed.); on Friday I walked 9,400 steps and on Sat. & Sun. a bit more than 14,000 steps each day. I treadmilled twice this week at a relaxed pace for a total of 1 hour 6 mins and 4.1 miles.

Cat: We reunited with the cat on Monday! Yay! As a special celebration, he got his nails clipped at the vet’s on Friday! Boo! (he says)

Nesting

Cleaning/Maintenance: Not much. I vacuumed the family room on Sat. Did clothes laundry on Tues. and Sunday and towel laundry on Saturday,

Yard: The Japanese umbrella tree really got walloped by the ice, each needle coated thickly and the trunk bent over.

More yard/ice photos this week (the third one is actually in the neighbours’ yard):

Financial/Admin: I emailed our tax guy on Friday to make sure he’s doing our taxes this year (yes). I cancelled four paid Substack subscriptions on Wed. and updated the checkbook on Thursday.

Food: I don’t know what we ate from Mon-Wed. (I didn’t cook or eat much). On New Year’s Day, feeling better, I made our traditional meal, a bourbon-creme-dill shrimp dish over jasmine rice, plus sautéed broccolini. We had that on Friday too, with a green salad w/ homemade dressing (using a cucumber white balsamic vinegar a friend, RVN, gave me this summer). My husband made three loaves of sourdough bread on Friday. On Sat. I made seafood casserole with peas, which we also ate on Sunday, along with roasted Brussels sprouts (that I’d bought before we went away).

Sleeping & Dreaming

Despite a recorded sleep time while sitting up in business class on the train on Sunday night (Monday) of 4.5 hours and a sleep score of 45 (improved to 49 by a nap later in the day at home), I still managed overall to get almost 8 hours of sleep per night this week — every other night but that one I had between 8 and 9.5 hours of sleep. (Oddly, the Fit 3 didn’t record any sleep while I was napping during most of Wednesday.) My sleep score for all seven nights was 84.1 but if we don’t count the 49 score the average was 90. Overall I had 13 hours 45 mins of REM and 7 hours 45 mins of deep sleep.

Reading / Words & Ideas / Listening / Watching

READING

I finished reading On the Calculation of Volume I (2020/2025 transl.) by Solvej Balle, the first in a 7-book series. The plot is simple, sort of: Tara Selter somehow steps out of time on 18 November while on an antiquarian book-buying trip to Paris, while everyone else, including the person she lives with at home in rural France, her husband and business partner Thomas, has not. What’s compelling about this book other than obvious time loop conundrum are the protagonist’s almost hypnotic voice, her repetitive analysis of the situation she’s in, the tone and mood of loneliness and utter isolation she feels. The writing is breathtaking, singular, ineffable. I’ve ordered the next two and pre-ordered the 4th.

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Why I want a different New Year: who said January first is when we should begin again? by Tove Danovich in her newsletter A Little Detour with Tove Danovich: “

But what the hell is a week? And why try to shoehorn the moon’s phases into ‘months’ we all follow when they never line up right anyway? … Every day the Earth is revisiting a place in its orbit it hasn’t seen in roughly 365 days. Every day is at least an anniversary of sorts if not a new year. Right now, I feel both emotionally and physically like I’m in a fallow period. I need time to go inward, be quiet. … Here, it’s wintering time.”

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Why the French Don’t Obsess Over Purpose: A softer kind of ambition, where work is not your worth and satisfaction counts more than success, by Pamela Clapp in her newsletter With Love From Paris:

“When I moved back to Paris as an adult, I was struck by how much people here were just… living. They weren’t building personal brands. They weren’t trying to optimize themselves into more perfect versions. They worked, they took real holidays, they cooked, they went to the theater. They had long conversations about everything and nothing. And they rarely used the word productive. … What they value instead is curiosity. Culture. Taste. The art of paying attention. Of being present, not just purposeful. That doesn’t mean people are passive. But the energy is different. Life is more about living well or profiter de la vie.”

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LISTENING

A few Shazam’d songs this week

WATCHING

Mostly watching the older ‘Lynley Murders’ (BritBox) based on the Elizabeth George books. I watched the Rose Parade on TV on New Year’s Day (my favourite parade), and I dvr’d it so I can watch it again!

Connections & Community

Local Support: Bought birdseed and propane from local (though part of larger chain – Ace) hardware store on Tuesday. Would have shopped at local farmstand and probably a local bakery but both were closed all week for the holidays.

Relationships: As mentioned in the previous LL, friends (ED&SD) picked us up from the bus on Monday afternoon (with others willing to do so, but given the ice storm, these nearby friends were the best choice). Talked with my sister by phone for 15 mins on Tuesday. Texted with friend (RVN) throughout the day on Friday. My husband walked one of his sourdough baguettes over to friends (ND&TD) on Thursday. On Sat., a friend (LD) brought us some Christmas bread he’d made. Exchanged emails with a friend (CF) on Tuesday. Emailed a friend (KKT) on Sat. We started eating a delicious and beautiful almond bread given to us by a friend (JW) while we were away.