no. 4: december 28, 2023

December 28, 2023

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no. 4: december 28, 2023

Hi again friend,

I hope you’re well today. I’m writing to you early in the morning, long before the sun rises over the mountains to the east. I can just see the outline of clouds rippling against the sky, but otherwise the world is dark.

The holidays were busy and strange this year—somehow I ended up at a total of nine gatherings, both big and small, over five days. It’s not how I’d like to spend Christmas, but it’s what seems to be happening more and more.

*dining room table set for christmas dinner*

I’m glad I have friends and family who want to see me, but I think sometimes that I’d rather visit the mountains over the holidays some years. I think that, in the future, I’ll do just that (at least some years).

Right now is that nebulous time between Christmas and New Year’s where nothing feels real. I’m floating in a sea of to-dos and wanting to do nothing with them; all I want is to drive to the sea and sit a while. I think I’m going to do that on New Year’s day, though, to sit and watch the waves a while.

*cozy living room in early evening, cast in a warm glow*

Something I want to write here, because when I write things down or share them with other people, it makes them more real: I really want to start working on my novel again. I don’t know what it is with these last couple months, but most of the time I don’t even think about working on it.

So, another purpose of these letters will be to note down how many words I’ve written and where I’m at with it. I may update this later to add how many words I wrote (hopefully), but right now, I’m going to note down that I’m at 45,025 words. The goal is to reach about 60,000 by the end of the first draft—I know I’ll add more in later drafts.

With that, I’m going to sign off for the day. I hope you’re staying cozy and enjoying this liminal space between Christmas and New Year’s.

Stay cozy,

Catherine

P.S. how were the holidays for you?

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