Monday, December 13, 2010

Love, Snow, Christmas and Revolutions

I woke up this morning wondering why they call it "falling in love." I guess we're so used to the phrase that we can associate the feeling with the anaology... but is it really the most apt description? In my experience, it tends to be more like "getting dragged kicking and screaming into love." Well maybe that's a bit absurb but falling doesn't seem to really describe the crazyness of love.

For the record, no, I'm not in love with anyone right now. Which is probably why I feel like I can actually comment on it.

Remember my post last week about snow? Well, most of you have probably heard that this weekend the midwest was blasted by what many of us are calling snowmageddon. Airports were closed down, ACTs were canceled, and at least one state DOT told drivers to stay off the roads on Saturday night.

I and my family all survived safe and sound. Our area actually got less snow than the majority of our state. It was fierce and windy and COLD, but in terms of amount of snow it didn't top (or even come close to reaching) the knee high dumping I experienced in Virginia last year.

Christmas celebrating begins. We had our first family get-together yesterday at my grandmother's lovely decorated house. My sister was in charge of the decorations there and it looked absolutely marvelous. They put timed electric candles to good use, which means at around 4:30-5:00 every day the candles come on and remain on for 6-7 hours. Rather brilliant, I think. (Even though I of course prefer real candles to fake ones)

Today is a doctor-and-errands day. I'm hoping to get back home before too long so that I can get to work on finishing up my red and black party dress. I have an order coming in for a regency coat, and after that's finished it looks like my sister will be comissioning me to do her prom dress. She found a sketch in my notebook that she absolutely loves and I'm really excited to have a chance to make it. Pictures coming soon!

Speaking of my sister, I have to proudly say that she just got cast in a production of "A Tale of Two Cities." This happens to be one of my very favorite classics so of course I'm absolutely thrilled about it.

1 comment:

Mary Bess said...

Dear Elena, I really enjoyed this post, full of all the interesting tidbits so characteristic of the hectic holidays.

The topic I most wanted to comment back about, though, was the idea of "falling". Yes, even though many of our favorite heroines do seem to end up in love "kicking and screaming," (Lizzie Bennett, Hermione, Anne Shirley) "falling" can be just as apt a metaphor.

Letting yourself be in love is like walking off a cliff without a parachute, without a cable. Those of us more reckless than our peers will even take a running jump off. And even though this is often only the way relationships begin, i.e. a combination of lust and admiration, truly loving unconditionally is still an act that makes you feel as powerless as a plummeting rock and as magically empowered as a freefall's adrenaline rush.

So yes, the metaphor of "falling in love" is strange, and often misused, but it is not illegitimized by the flippant use of others. I hope that one day we will both find men worthy of such a metaphor.