Hiatus

hi·a·tus  noun \hī-ˈā-təs\:  an interruption in time or continuity :  Break; especially :   a period of time when something (such as an activity or program) is stopped. (Courtesy of Merriam Webster online: www.m-w.com)

Well, hello there! I’m sorry for dropping off for a while, but the work-life balance went a bit sideways on me. Things haven’t quite leveled off yet, but I miss this space and it’s time to get organized again.

We’re into the time of year that many of us folks in the Pacific Northwest affectionately refer to as “the dark days”. For as long as our days are in the summer, they’re quite short going into winter: sunrise today was at 7:16 am and sunset will arrive at 4:30pm. This translates to a bit of fumbling around in the dark, both before and after work, when it comes to taking care of the chores outside.

It’s also the time of year where our weather turns… well… soggy. I was going to say unpredictable, but let’s be honest: we can pretty much count on it being wet. Hollywood likes to paint us a little rainier than we really are (fact: we get fewer inches of rain per year than New York City) but it’s not too far from the truth. We’re the Evergreen State for a reason, after all! Before you start to think I’m complaining, I have to say that I’ll take the damp over months of snow, any day.

In truth, I do love this time of year. When spring starts coming around, I end up packing away my “inside toys” and focus on everything outside. But once the clocks change, I settle in and it’s all about making things. I’ve been spending quite a bit of time sitting by the fire with my spinning wheel these past few weeks; hands down it’s one of the most soothing hobbies I have, and definitely a favorite. Spinning is art, science and music all rolled into one happy little woolly package... so much fun! Spinners, you know what I mean.

If you don’t spin, but enjoy making things, I highly recommend giving it a shot. There are lots of (Free!) resources available on the internet to get you started, and a basic spindle is super easy to make. When I first was looking into spinning, I made my own spindle because I didn’t want to fork out the money for something I wasn’t sure I’d like. Now that I think about it, I’ll do a post on how to make a starter spindle, if anyone’s interested.

What do you do to get you through your ‘dark days’ of winter?