Just Filling the Page

December 2025

I don’t feel much like writing today.  I’m in a bit of a mood.  That always happens after a major holiday, where I have spent endless hours planning and executing something.  There is a bit of a lull in energy afterwards, and I feel it.  It doesn’t hurt that we got a foot of heavy, wet snow and I was out shoveling our driveway multiple times yesterday.  It has left my back feeling sore and worn out. Oh, did I mention I ate and drank too much over the course of the long, long weekend?  So right now, I am giving thanks that Thanksgiving 2025 is a memory.

My mom used to call it a “funk”.  That is how she described her post-holiday blues.  Holidays for her never lived up to the billing. She would say, “I cook for 3 days, people eat for 3 minutes, and I clean up for 3 days after”.  That is an exaggeration perhaps, but pretty much how it goes.  She dreamt about them being so much more.  I can’t remember her ever being too happy during a holiday, especially Thanksgiving.  But I do remember her sadness afterwards.

People typically have a tinge of sadness after a holiday.  Maybe not an overwhelming gloom, but melancholia is quite natural. Let’s just call it a disturbing undercurrent of malaise. For me, I tend to lose motivation.  I feel somewhat defeated, and a bit of negativity takes hold. My after-effects are both mental and physical. Physically, I feel fatigued and tired. Mentally, well, I just feel spent. Emotionally drained.

The good news is, especially after Thanksgiving, you don’t have long to cry in your beer.  Holidays abound in December. Whether it’s Christmas, Hanukkah, Bodhi Day or Kwanzaa, there is lots to celebrate. Did I mention my birthday is on the 27th?  And, New Year’s Eve is right around the corner. So, there is much to snap back and get ready for.

But today, I think just take it easy and mope. Why not?  There is too cold out and there is too much snow to go anywhere. I need to stop eating and drinking for like a month to get my good dietary habits back in order, and there are lots of sports on TV to watch. Maybe I’ll make some soup. That always makes me feel better.  Definitely nothing to do with turkey.  I have had my yearly quota.  That damned tryptophan!