I've had a hard time maintaining my "get up and go" lately. It's not that I've lost my momentum for the year…it's just that it's so darn cold outside! Seriously—NYC is in the midst of a deep freeze. The past few weeks have been among the coldest and snowiest of all my years in the Big Apple (and it's supposed to snow again this weekend!). I know that technically, this is what winter is supposed to feel like in the northeast, and the last few milder winters are, in fact, not the norm. But wow, this winter has hit me hard.
Most days, I don't want to walk to the subway in the sleet. I don't want to stay out after dark—which at this time of year is still pretty early. I don't want to go to the effort of putting on layer upon layer of clothing, only to still feel cold when I am actually out and about. I want to stay home, in my pajamas and fuzzy socks, and wrap up in a quilt. I want to read, and I want to work on my new book.
And there's the upside to feeling like I want to hibernate: I can hibernate with my work-in-progress! Which I am making pretty good progress on, by the way. I have most of a first draft written. I'm currently polishing up the opening chapters to—*gulp*—send to my agent in a few weeks. Two people have read the beginning and offered some feedback and positive reinforcement (and thank you—you know who you are!), and I feel like I'm on my way toward something reasonably good. Not finished product–good, but early draft–good. Which is good enough for now. I keep telling myself, You can't revise a blank page. And forward I march.
I may not be wearing proper pants most days (do yoga pants count?), but I am writing lots of words.
Does anyone else have the its-never-gonna-be-spring blues? How do you cope, short of packing your bags and jetting off to a tropical location? I think I need a sun lamp or something. Or a drink with a little umbrella.
At least it's been pretty:
~Kathryn