Remaining Positive While Waiting for Warmer Weather to Arrive

A Walk in the Park

— The new year did not start exactly as I had anticipated. I thought by now my mission would be underway to visit local sites in and around the area. However, I am still waiting for the weather and road conditions to cooperate.

I am tempted to grumble a few complaints, except that I wrote just last week that seeking to make the best of each situation with a good attitude is also part of my plan for the new year. Since we are only a few days into January, it’s too early to break my resolution, especially since I revealed it in the newspaper.

As I mentioned some time back, my plan for 2010 is to support the notion that it isn’t necessary to go far or to spend a lot of money to be entertained. I am looking for locations within 50 miles of home that are inexpensive, interesting and /or fun. The list of potential destinations has been started, but there is still room for more. So, if you are aware of an indoor or outdoor sight that youthink others might find interesting, please pass along your suggestions. I will check out as many of them as I can and use this space to keep you informed of my discoveries. You may e-mail them to me at awalkinthepark50 @ yahoo.com or write to me in care of the Gentry Courier-Journal, P.O. Box 677, Gentry, AR 72734.

Meanwhile, the wintery blast has created the opportunity to put my positive attitude to work and concoct another kind of list. This one suggests ways to make the best of the time spent indoors and ward off cabin fever while waiting for weather conditions to improve.

This is what it looks like so far:

1) Pull out a cookbook and bake something yummy that you usually don’t have time to make - at least you don’t have to worry about the oven heating up the kitchen.

2) Watch old home videos - notice how much the kids have changed and try to ignore the same for the grownups.

3) Write a handwritten letter to someone.

4) Look at photos of last summer’s vacation and remember how hot it felt on those days when it was 100 degrees.

5) Thumb through garden seed catalogs and think of springtime.

6) Make caramel popcorn and eat it while you watch a good movie.

7) Keep your feet warm by wearing thick wool socks for house slippers.

8) Make a big pot of soup with whatever you have on hand, bake a pan of corn bread to go with it, and enjoy!

9) Snuggle with your honey on the couch and watch a ball game - if you don’t like sports, keep a paperback nearby and look up only when the cheers get loud.

10) Call and check on someone who is stuck at home alone.

11) Sit in front of the fireplace or wood stove and soak in the heat - maybe even taking a nap.

12) Pull out a board game that hasn’t been played in a while.

14) Grab a writing pad and mentally organize by making a list of things to do once the weather improves.

15) Bundle up, grab your camera and head outside and spend a few minutes capturing a nice winter scene that you can look at when a summer heat wave strikes later in the year.

Hopefully by the time this is printed, the cold weather will have moved along. If not, thinking positively will take some added effort because I’m really looking forward to getting out of the house and doing some exploring.

Opinion, Pages 5 on 01/13/2010