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Author: Anne Cassidy

After Downton

After Downton

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It would have happened last night, had it happened. But there was no seventh season of “Downton Abby” — and so I start this week without Lady Mary and Bates and Anna and all the crew.

Instead, I begin the week with “The People Vs. O.J. Simpson,” an excellent mini-series that just won a Golden Globe. But it did not take me out of myself and plop me down in the English countryside. It did not transport me to a place of elegance and ease.

For six years, there was Christmas, there was New Year’s — and there was Downton Abby. I don’t know if the scheduling was intentional, but it always seemed the perfect show for easing into the new year. It took the sting out of reentry.

Luckily, we live in an era of such television bounty that I couldn’t even be bothered to leave the house for a first-run film like “La La Land.” I needed screen therapy, and I got it — without venturing outdoors. But I didn’t have Downton. And that’s what I needed.

(Photo: PBS.org)

Around the Corner

Around the Corner

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Last year’s Epiphany I came across a bevy of colorful scarves draped on trees and banisters and railings. It was a “scarf bombing,” part of an organized effort to help those who have no way to come in from the cold.

It was, I thought, the perfect expression of the day, a moment of revelation in wool and worsted.

Today, nothing so epiphanous. Today, a typical work-at-home day, the views and contours familiar and unsurprising.

By definition, though, sudden revelations can happen at any time. So while I may not be cleansed by clarity now, I may be later today or tomorrow or sometime next week.

In other words, I’m trying to live as if inspiration is just around the corner.

Airing Out

Airing Out

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There are days in D.C. that bring a bright sun and mild feel to our winter, that air it out like an open window on a chilly night.

Yesterday was such a day, when a 30-minute walk took on grand proportions in the landscape of the hours, and made my afternoon significantly peppier than my morning.

There were bicyclists on the path and runners shedding layers. There were the familiar take-offs and landings at National Airport. There was the monument ahead of me and all the promise of a new year.

I was on a path, moving forward.

Walking in Silence

Walking in Silence

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I’m thinking back to last week’s trip to colonial America. In eighteenth-century Williamsburg, most people walked. They walked to the fields to work, they walked to the Capitol to debate the Stamp Act. They walked to the tavern and the milliner and the tinsmith.

Yes, they had wagons and carriages, and sometimes they rode in them. But mostly, they walked.

I think about the walking and the silence, the combination of the two. Then I think about my own noisy, clattery world.

Yes, I enjoy antibiotics and flush toilets and central heating. But oh what I would give for the walking and the silence, for the time it would give to collect thoughts and mull over the future.

Back to …

Back to …

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I was going to say “the grind.” But my job is too new to be a grind, and the commute is so variable these days that it can be called many things (many of them unprintable) but grind doesn’t quite capture that either.

It’s more accurate today to say back to…  the routine. I’ve not been in the office since December 22, and what a luscious time it’s been: sleeping late, writing long, spending a couple of days away from home and century.

I’m not a big fan of routine, don’t move easily in its placid waters, would rather be done with it. Even though I’ll admit that routine is necessary and sometimes my salvation. But it is more anchor than prod — and today I re-enter it willingly … but not eagerly.

Into the Future

Into the Future

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Yes, we counted down the seconds last night. A room full of people with noisemakers and champagne and funny hats.  Out with the old and in with the new.

But for me, 2017 started with this winter morning, with the run I just took along familiar routes, waves to neighbors, music and talking in my ear.

And it started even earlier, with a cup of tea and my journal, reading last year’s entries, pondering resolutions, writing my way into the future.

Fast Away

Fast Away

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It’s only a matter of hours now for 2016, this crazy leap year with so many changes (new job and wedding; show-stopping election) that we needed an extra day to pack ’em in.

One thing about years now: They pass so quickly that it almost seems pointless to make a big fuss over their arrivals and departures.

But still, a year change is a moment, and so I will mark it now in this quiet living room with the tree still in full holiday regalia, books and journal by my side, three loads of laundry, a tidied freezer and vacuumed floor under my belt. The price I pay for writing time, a price I may have to stop paying if I’m ever to write more than these blog posts. And if there’s a hint of a resolution in there, so much the better!

Fast away the old year passes … whether marked by sundial or computer clock … it passes …

Time Travel

Time Travel

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Here I am, back from the 18th century and (despite yesterday’s snarky post) feeling a little bereft, truth be told. It was nice back there. It was quiet. A world without cars and sirens and power tools and amplified music.

It was inspiring, too, with talk about the republic and the founders’ ideas and ideals. In fact, there was so much to see and do (and so much exercise running and walking around the place), that I happily gave up Pilates fusion.

This morning’s organ concert in the Wren Chapel featured an instrument as old as the carols being played. To sit there with the music swirling around, natural light pouring in the high windows, was to feel as far away from my suburban life as I could possibly feel three hours from home.

It was more than space travel; it was time travel, too.

18th-Century’ish

18th-Century’ish

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A trip to the 18th-century today. To a time without cars and television and gender-bathroom issues.

This would be Williamsburg, Virginia. Only three hours down the road.

You can stay in historic houses there (we will) and have a hot buttered rum and a rasher of whatever it is they have rashers of.

You can also (and I have my eye on this) take a morning abs or Pilates fusion class at a decidedly 21st-century spa. Oh, and did I mention that there’s now a Williamsburg app?

Let’s just call it 18th-century’ish.

Holiday House

Holiday House

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Yesterday I met my brother for lunch at the local mega-mall. It was wonderful to see him — but I made quick work of the venue, got in and out as quickly as I could. More shopping? I don’t think so.

Instead,  I made my way quickly back here, where I could bounce on the trampoline and do a little yard work in the suddenly 60-degree temps. As the day darkened, I came inside to bask in the tree and the bowl of red glass apples that catch the light and transform it.

These holiday sights soothe the soul; the holiday occupations do, too. I spent a couple of hours last night turning the last of the cookie dough into crispy, sugared wreaths, bells and angels.

It’s all part of the holiday house. I want to keep it here as long as possible.