Chinatown gate.
I love January. Is that crazy? I especially love DC Januarys when they are cold like this year. A hard freeze settles the land, it makes everything just stop, a very rare experience in this busy busy hard-working city. All the gaudy Christmas lights will soon come down, trees will be tossed on the curbs. Folks will bundle up or hang out indoors. January is so still and peaceful. It is a pause, a time-out, like the small space at the beginning or end of a breath.
Of course the people pretend to launch back into a frenzy of busy-ness, but after the holidays finally end, no one really has the energy for anything more than a bluff. I know everyone goes back to work, but I have a hunch that folks spend a lot of the first week of January gazing out the window, drinking endless cups of coffee. All attempts to jumpstart the energy are fruitless now.
When March arrives the land will stir and so will the plants, animals and humans that live upon it. But for now, it's deep winter.
Ahhhh January! Welcome!!
Man playing a trumpet in Chinatown yesterday.
21 comments:
Lovely photo, esp. the trumpet player. January is kind of a blank slate for me, a time to write a bit on the new year.
Yeaah... Things are going sooo... slow usually at the early time of the year. People are still adapting to the changes, preparing these and that for the new day is about to start. By the way, please drop by to my blog at... http://crystalhourglass.blogspot.com
The holidays confuse my inner calendar. January brings my old friend, Routine, back to me.
Merle, you and me both!
I love the photo of the trumpet player as well.
I was just out to take Lindsay for a run and discovered that this is deep winter for sure. Brrrrr!
oh yeah......january a month of endless promise!
love the photo of the musician!!
January is the month that I spend crossing out the old year and rewriting the new year on checks. And it is so cold, that a nice fire in the fireplace looks so beautiful and warming for our hearts.
I think January is the month to snuggle with loved ones and enjoy a great book.
God bless.
I share the same feelings about January, its stillness and simplicity. It is always a time for regaining focus and meditation for me. The only time it gets stressful is when I have to travel, as I will be doing in about a week and a half and hope I don't hit blizzards. Blizzards are great if you're stuck in doors with a fire but not when you're en route to one.
Mrsupole, me too!
I had to work 4 days last week - I was fortunate that my boss was on vacation because I mostly just stared into space (& read blogs LOL).
I love the cold and simplicity and lack of excitement in Jan.
purity and stillness and cleanliness and all that
after all the 'too much' of the holidays.
Hope to see you this year?
much love
Early January. Cold, snowy and windy here in NE Ohio. And gray, too. The pace is slow this day, mine as well as the world outside. It was pretty quiet when I took the dogs out and took care of the chickens, only the sound of my boots crunching in the snow, and the chickens gently wishing for warmth.
The beauty of the post is enhanced by the photo of that trumpet player. Many thanks and Happy New Year to you, too!
Greetings from London.
January is just fine with me also- February and March become tedious but January- yes- Love the photo of the musician, Ms. Reya sunshine
This January the energy and peolpe's moods seem so much lighter than the year 2009. Ahhh...
Let it be cold so we can huddle and stare out the window. I'm still in contemplation mode. March will be here before we know it.
This holiday season has seemed like the world's longest weekend to me, starting with the snow on December 19th. There's been no weekly rhythm at all. I know the date but I can't feel what day of the week it is unless I look at the calendar. It's very discombobulating so I'm really looking forward to it being just January.
ha yes! i think you're right about that first week of January.
this makes me feel better about going back to work tomorrow.
You're one of the few people I know who profess a liking for January! If ever I was going to be a snowbird (one who leaves the north in the winter for the south) I would go specifically in January and February. I like snow and I don't mind the cold (and the days do gain light at both ends), but these middle months seem to go on forever. I'd have made a good bear; hibernating through Jan and Feb sounds good to me!
hi reya - i was in toronto all yesterday and arrived early enough to appreciate a very big city almost silent. the streets were so quiet it felt strange at first. then peaceful. imagine walking by office towers, condo towers and thinking "it's peaceful"! tomorrow i return to teaching and i was thinking whether or not i'd be entirely there and your word "bluff" danced across my mind and i laughed quietly to myself because that's what it may . . . nope will be!!!! steven
The man playing the trumpet is one of my favorite photos of yours EVER.
I think you are so right about the bluff. Everyone seems to be struggling to emerge from their post-holiday combination of overactivity/laziness. I love the universality of blogging, just as I love the individuality.
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