Getting Ready to Settle In
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It's November in North Dakota, and we still don't have snow. I'm surprised, although I probably shouldn't be. We've had plenty of years when winter took its time arriving, but I still expect to see a little white on the ground by now.
I'm not complaining. We could have bare ground today and be digging ourselves out of a blizzard next week. I've lived here long enough to know how quickly that can happen, and I'm happy to enjoy the extra autumn weather.
I also completely forgot about the time change last weekend. After 57 years, you'd think I'd remember something that happens twice a year. Apparently not. Now it's dark before supper, and by seven o'clock I feel like I should be getting ready for bed. Unfortunately, that's often when I finally have time to do the things I've been thinking about all day.
And lately, I've been thinking about getting organized.
Everything, apparently.
The closets, the cupboards, the paperwork, the holiday plans, and all those little things I've been meaning to take care of for months. I've made lists, rearranged a few things, found things I forgot I owned, and managed to create several new messes while attempting to clean up the old ones.
So far, I'm having much more success planning the organization than actually accomplishing it.
At first, I thought this sudden ambition had something to do with the holidays. Christmas is coming, and there's plenty to look forward to. I love the decorating, the cooking, planning what I'm going to make, and having the family together. With six children, seven grandchildren, a husband, four dogs, two cats, and two businesses, there's certainly enough happening around here without me deciding the kitchen cupboards need rearranging.
But I've been thinking that maybe November brings on this organizing frenzy for another reason.
We're preparing for our annual North Dakota pseudo-hibernation.
Summer around here is busy. I want to be outside, go to the lake, sit around a bonfire, and enjoy those long evenings while we have them. Cleaning out cupboards is pretty far down my list of preferred activities when there's a beautiful summer evening waiting outside.
November is different. Even without snow, we know what's coming. The days are getting shorter, the temperatures are dropping, and before long we'll be spending considerably more time indoors.
And I actually look forward to that.
I love a good snowfall, particularly when I'm watching it from inside a warm house. There's something about the snow covering everything outside while the fireplace is going, a cup of hot chocolate is nearby, and I have absolutely nowhere I need to be.
The house feels different in winter. Everything seems a little quieter, and I enjoy the excuse to stay home. Give me a book, a movie, or an evening at my sewing machine, and I'm quite content.
Several years ago, I read Helen Russell's The Year of Living Danishly, and I've thought about it often since. Russell moved from England to Denmark and spent a year exploring the way Danes live, including their approach to happiness and the long, dark winters.
One of the things that stayed with me was hygge, the Danish practice of creating comfort, enjoying simple pleasures, and spending time with people you care about.
I can certainly appreciate that.
I've also been thinking about the similarities between Denmark and North Dakota. Both experience four distinct seasons, cold weather, wind, and those long winter evenings when spending time indoors becomes a lot more appealing.
Although, geographically speaking, Denmark is actually farther north than we are. Its winters are generally much milder, thanks to the surrounding seas and the influence of the North Atlantic. While we're dealing with subzero temperatures and snowdrifts, the Danes are more likely to be dealing with damp, gray weather and rain.
I'll take the snow, thank you. At least until I have to shovel it.
Despite the differences in our weather, I understand the appeal of the Danish approach to winter. Instead of spending the darker months simply waiting for spring, there's something to be said for making those months enjoyable in their own right.
And that's what I liked about reading Russell's book. Hygge isn't simply about decorating your house with candles and blankets, although those certainly contribute to the atmosphere. It's about enjoying the time you spend there. Good company, something warm to drink, comfortable surroundings, and activities you genuinely enjoy.
We already have plenty of that in North Dakota. We just might not have a particular name for it.
For me, it often involves fabric.
My sewing machine sits directly in front of a window, so I can watch the snow falling while I work. There's something wonderful about sitting there with a quilt in progress, the fireplace going, and the whole afternoon ahead of me. I can look up from my sewing whenever I want and enjoy the view without having to set foot outside.
Of course, this is the pleasant version of winter. There's nothing particularly cozy about scraping ice off the windshield when it's twenty below zero, and by March I may have a few less complimentary things to say about the season.
But I do love those evenings at home.
And I think that brings me back to my sudden urge to organize everything.
I'm getting ready to settle in.
If we're going to spend the next several months indoors, I want the house comfortable. I want the things we need where we can find them, my sewing supplies reasonably organized, and some of those little household jobs taken care of before winter arrives.
It reminds me of the preparations people made for winter long before central heating, grocery delivery, and the ability to order just about anything online.
Getting a household ready for the cold months was serious work. Food had to be preserved, fuel stored, clothing repaired, and supplies gathered before the weather made travel difficult. Families had to think ahead because winter could make getting what they needed considerably harder.
We still understand some of that in North Dakota. Anyone who's watched a blizzard move in knows the value of having groceries in the house and not needing to make one last trip to the store.
I wonder whether some of that old habit of preparing for winter has simply carried over into the way we approach November.
I certainly don't feel the same urge to organize everything in June. But now that we're approaching the months when we'll spend more time at home, suddenly I'm interested in what belongs in every cupboard and whether there's a better way to arrange the sewing supplies.
The trouble is that I have an extraordinary talent for turning a simple organizing project into something else entirely.
I can start sorting fabric, find something I forgot I had, remember a quilt pattern I've wanted to try, and spend the next hour figuring out whether I have enough fabric to make it.
Three hours later, I've got another project planned and the sewing supplies are still spread across the table.
I'm beginning to think that organizing fabric is a dangerous activity for someone who enjoys quilting.
But I've also been wondering whether I'm making the whole preparation process unnecessarily complicated.
I want to get the house organized so I can enjoy being home this winter. But I already enjoy being home. The fireplace doesn't care whether I've rearranged the kitchen cupboards, and I'm certainly not going to turn down an evening of sewing because I haven't finished sorting the closets.
Perhaps that's something worth remembering from hygge. Comfort isn't necessarily the result of having everything in order. Sometimes it's simply being happy with where you are and what you're doing.
That doesn't mean I've abandoned my plans. I still intend to organize the house, get ready for the holidays, and tackle some of those things I've been putting off. I'd actually like to know what's hiding in the back of a few cupboards.
But I'm also looking forward to the snow, the fireplace, family gatherings, and all those evenings when the weather gives me a very good reason to stay home.
I've got books waiting to be read, projects waiting to be made, and enough fabric to keep myself occupied for several winters.
I'm curious whether other people feel the same way. Do you enjoy that closed-in, cozy feeling when winter arrives? Do you find yourself preparing your house differently for the colder months? Or are you counting the days until spring before the first snowflake even hits the ground?
I think there's something interesting about how we choose to spend the seasons we're given. We can't do much about the weather, particularly here in North Dakota, but we can certainly find things to enjoy about it.
For now, I'll appreciate our snow-free November, make a little progress on my organizing plans, and look forward to those evenings with the fireplace going and nowhere I need to be.
I do have a cupboard I intended to clean out this weekend.
Although there's a quilt project calling my name, and we all know this will probably win.
Chris
