Musings & Thoughts for Saturday, December 23, 2023, or: Getting Settled In, Part the First

Midday/Early Afternoon, Saturday, December 23, 2023, Madison

Greetings from New Hampshire, folks! It’s early afternoon here in Madison, and the temperature outside is 32˚˚F/0˚C under cloudy conditions. The forecast for the Madison/Conway area calls for partly sunny skies and a high of 37˚F/3˚C. The low tonight is expected to reach 20˚F/-3˚C, and the skies will be mostly cloudy.

Well, I’ve been here for eight days, and today marks the beginning of my second full weekend in New England. I’m still battling homesickness, anxiety, and, of course, the chilly winter weather. I’ll get over the former eventually, but getting used to harsh winter conditions is going to take me a while. (And this is the easy part of the season – it gets far colder in January.)

My Day So Far

Today my friend Patti and her husband Marc came over to start the long process of unpacking the moving boxes and assembling my IKEA book shelves and media towers. Marc and Patti both work during the week, so as much as they desire to help me get settled, they must do it when they have the time, especially since it’s also the holiday season and they must attend to the preparation of their family activities for Christmas.

Marc is tackling the IKEA shelves where my books and many of my Star Wars collectibles will go. Patti opened the boxes marked “Kitchen” and put some of the contents in various cabinets in that part of the house. She also is taking her late mother’s collection of porcelain figurines out of the display cabinet so I can place some of my collectibles there.

As for me, I’m trying to follow the advice I’ve been given by others who have experience living here in the North:

• Go out as often as possible and get sunlight, even if it’s cold outside
• Take Vitamin D supplements to alleviate the psychological effects of the longer winter night
• Be as active as possible
• Take lots of pictures

I’m also keeping out of Marc and Patti’s way and not making unreasonable demands on them.

Other than that, I don’t have much to tell you. I went to bed late because the cold makes it hard to fall asleep easily, but I killed time by using my new Fire HD 10 tablet to read one of the e-books in my Kindle library. (If you must know, I read the enhanced edition of the late J.W. Rinzler’s The Making of Star Wars.) I didn’t get too far into it because it was past 12:30 AM and I was reading in bed in the dark, but at least I relaxed enough to sleep six or seven hours.  

Well, it’s almost time for another sally forth out to the front yard to get some sunshine. I also need to eat something; I had a light breakfast in the morning, but that was five hours ago, and chilly weather makes me hungry.

So, until next time, stay safe, stay healthy, count your blessings, and I’ll catch you on the sunny side of things.