As soon as Christmas was over, I told Mr. FixIt we need a little down time. There are things that need doing in the coming weeks, but right now there is nothing more pressing than fixing a meal every day, knitting, and maybe watching a movie or taking a nap. I love Christmas, but I love the week after just as much.
If you’ve been around here long, you know about my fur coat. In 2007, Mr. Virgo bought me a full length Icelandic Blue Fox fur coat. We lived near Aspen and spent a good deal of time there. As a matter of fact, when I first started dating him, Mr. Virgo lived in Snowmass so I was up there a lot. Winter in Aspen is truly magical and wandering town in the snow was a cold proposition. I mentioned how cold I was one day. The following winter, this baby was under the tree.
I know…I was torn, too. I mean, PETA and fur and controversy versus being that warm and toasty? Warmth won me over and I wore that thing to the grocery store….everywhere. I didn’t care…it was the warmest I’d ever been in the winters of Colorado. I continued to wear it, even after Mr. Virgo died. But one winter, I wore it to the Winter Concert at my granddaughter’s grade school. It was one of the poorest inner city schools in the area and I was embarrassed. I even wadded it up and sat on it during the concert.
The following year, I moved to West Virginia. There aren’t too many places you can wear a coat like that in the Mountain State. I wore it to coffee once when I met my high school girlfriends. They all had fun trying on the coat and having their picture taken, but I soon felt the coat just wasn’t “me” anymore. That’s when I had my friend Ginny cut off the top of it and turn it into a throw for the bed on my camper.
I’ve dragged this thing around with me all over the country. It has comforted me when I was grieving. It has kept me warm around the campfire with I travel with my camping girlfriends. The last big camping trip I took in the fall of 2019 with the Girl Camper Raffle Trailer, the lining started coming out so I carefully folded it and draped it over the back of the loveseat in the family room.
Since we had a White Christmas, the daytime temperatures haven’t been above freezing. And, since my entire goal yesterday was to sit in my new recliner and knit with some yarn my dear friend Gail sent me, I decided I’d be much warmer with my fur thrown over my lap. I gathered up what I needed and stitched the loose life of the lining and before long, I was snug as a bug in a rug…knitting away and watching football as Mr. FixIt snoozed off and on throughout the afternoon.
It was such a cozy feeling…kind of like loving bookends. I am so incredibly blessed to have such thoughtful men in my life…be they present in memory or in the recliner across the room. I couldn’t have been happier, feet propped up, a lovely fur across my lap, the sun bright on the new fallen snow, knitting and listening to the soft, steady breathing of my sweetheart. The dichotomy between now and just five years ago is stark. I remember the darkness so vividly…which is why the light is so remarkable. It continually surprises me and I try very hard not to take a moment of it for granted.
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“So I never stop being grateful for you, as I mention you in my prayers.”
Ephesians 1:16 CEV