we can start again in march

january and february as rehearsal and 6 cosy activities to take your mind off the darkness

i’ve started to keep my curtains closed first thing in the morning. since our office looks out onto nothing but train tracks, i don’t feel so exposed if i leave them open all day. when the sky began to darken in the evening, i’d watch the sunset as i read or wrote on the daybed and leave the curtains open. when i arrived again in the morning, i’d be greeted by a heavy, almost pitch-black sky, with maybe a moon stamped somewhere behind the empty tree branches, and wait patiently for it to light up again. it takes around three hours.

but something about walking into a dark room and an even darker sky first thing in the morning solidifies how much i dislike winter. one evening, i was simply sick of looking out the window and seeing nothing at all (although the lack of london’s light pollution is quite nice), and i tried closing the curtains for once and found that the room was a lot cosier—just me, the soft glow of my laptop and the lamp in the corner. maybe i should keep them closed until there is something to look at in the mornings too.

so as i write this, it’s nearly half past seven and the curtains are still closed. i’ve learned the sun’s language. i know she’s about to rise any minute now and the sky, if i’m lucky, will start to turn a blush pink like the colour of my new cashmere socks, my cd player, my tablet case, my favourite colour. this excites me. it makes me think about going for a walk as soon as the sky brightens a little more, so i can breathe in that crisp, fresh, wintery morning air and drink it up like pink lemonade. sometimes the sky remains dark and that means it’s going to be a cloudy morning, or more likely, a cloudy day. on these days, it’s important to keep busy.