Hey, Let’s Party!

Greetings from Poosey.

It happens every winter. You stare out the window at the endless parade of snow and cold and ice and wind and you purposely turn off the weather channel when they talk about the forecast for Los Angeles and Miami. That person you married starts looking way too familiar and even your rugs start staring back at you with a dreariness that could only be brought on by a long onslaught of winter. You try adding more hot pepper flakes to your chili and put a vase of plastic flowers by your breakfast cereal but nothing seems to pull you out of the frigid doldrums.

Some folks suffer terribly with seasonal affective disorder, but for most of us it’s just a plain old case of the winter blahs. When it gets bad enough then I know it’s time to call Janet, the Queen of Winter. Janet lost her husband some years ago and her kids are now all grown and moved away to mostly warmer climates, leaving her alone in a house that she describes as, “way more than I need,” and a dog who won’t run away no matter how she encourages him to do so. But while other folks ‘round Poosey stare at a calendar that refuses to flip over to spring, Janet turns on the juice, kicks it up a gear, and explodes.

She told me her theory: “Freida, you can’t wait for life to get interesting and exciting because it’s not gonna happen. You gotta plan your joy.” And she does. Every Saturday night Janet visits the local flower shop and picks up what’s left of the week’s fresh flowers for next to nothing, takes them home for a bit of spiffing up, then goes door-to-door around her neighborhood passing out bouquets. Every Sunday our church altar is adorned with the results of Janet’s floral spiffing.

And if you live within a couple miles of her house you get your annual invitation to Janet’s Winter Laxative. Although newcomers to town are at first put off by Janet’s titling, once they attend her cold weather fest they start making plans for its return next winter. Janet picks a date in mid-January, sends out the invitations, and urges folks to show up in their wildest beach clothing. She promises to turn up the heat in case anyone wants to wear a swimming suit. Herb once complained that there was no nude beach at Janet’s party so the next year we arrived to find a sign stuck in the snow of her front yard labeled “clothing optional area.” She insists that we bring nothing to eat, but there is a definite price of admission. Each partygoer must provide a bit of entertainment focused on summertime. You can sing a song, dance a jig or tell a vacation story …anything, as long as you make us smile and warm our hearts. Last year Lola Briggs surprised us with a hula dance. She said, “At 88 I’ve only got so many sways and wiggles left in me.” Herb tried this trick years ago on the night when Janet decided to stop using lit candles on her coffee table.

And, of course, the real bonus for Janet’s winter fling is that it’s truly a month-long experience as we start looking forward to the evening as soon as the calendar flips to January and we’re warmed by the memories long after the final hula is done. She knows that the anticipation of joy is often joy in itself and there’s something about this rather silly evening spent around good friends that takes the sting out of even the bleakest winter.

The woman’s optimism and sunny outlook is boundless. Last winter she broke her hip forcing her frozen fest into the cozy confines of our local American Legion Hall, and Janet’s only response was, “Hey! If I’m gonna bust something then I want to do it in winter when there’s not much going on anyway!” Two years ago our little church was in a real financial crunch and so we called an emergency meeting to see if we could afford to keep the doors open. Janet said, “Okay, but let’s have a party first!” …and we did.

She summed it up in an email to me recently: “Every morning when I wake up I can choose joy, Freida. It’s my choice and given the alternative the answer is so ridiculously simple. I can’t imagine why anyone would choose otherwise.” We are indeed shaped by our thoughts and Janet’s thoughts have molded her into one of our little community’s most blessed resources.

Feeling a bit beaten up by winter’s bite? Throw a party! Put on a hula skirt! Choose joy! And if you’re ever ‘round Poosey, stop by. We may not answer the door but you’ll enjoy the trip.