December 20: Moons of Saturn, Winter Solstice Eve, Calumet

Seat thyself sultanically among the moons of Saturn, and take high abstracted man alone; and he seems a wonder, a grandeur, and a woe . . . 

Greetings from the AmericInn in Calumet, Michigan, on the Winter Solstice Eve.  Most of the time, when I come here in winter months, it feels and looks like I'm on a moon of Saturn.  Otherworldly.  The snowbanks are usually so tall that they obscure the buildings behind them at times.  Driving down a street is like traveling through a tunnel of ice and snow.  

Today, when I drove up, it was snowing and sleeting.  The roads were slick and treacherous.  When I turned into the city of Calumet, the road was coated in snow, as if, earlier, there had been a wicked half-hour blizzard.  However, there are no towering piles of white.  At the hotel, I spoke with the front desk person, and he said that six people had canceled their reservations for this weekend because of the lack of snow.  (Snowmobiling is a huge tourist draw in the area.)

I am here to be in a radio show at the Calumet Theatre.  Did some rehearsal tonight.  More tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m.  Then, the performance at 7 p.m. on the longest night of the year.  Full moon and meteor showers in the forecast.

I'm still a little exhausted from this past week of grading.  Last night, I signed, addressed, and stuffed about 78 Christmas cards.  With my wife's help, I finished that little project at about 12:30 a.m.  So, if you're keeping track, that's three nights in a row where I only got about four hours of sleep.  Twelve hours total in the past 72 hours.

I plan on sleeping in a little tomorrow morning.  Then having a leisurely breakfast with my wife and son.  Yes, I have some writing to do.  A poem to work on.  Scripts to doctor a little bit.  Overall, though, it should be a fairly relaxing day up until show time.  Some people might get nervous about being on stage, acting, singing, and performing.  I sort of enjoy it.  There's always a little anxiety.  For the most part, however, I love the whole process--the creativity of it.  Trying to make something out of nothing.

This is my kickoff to the holiday weekend.  Fourth Sunday of Advent and them, immediately following on Monday, Christmas Eve.  I'm not ready.  Not even close.  Yet, here I am, sitting in a hotel room, not shopping or writing poetry or wrapping presents.  Instead, I'm blogging and eating M&Ms.

Maybe this is what Christmas should really feel like.  It should be relaxing.  Soul-satisfying.  Rejuvenating.  I wonder how many people actually experience this.  Don't get me wrong, when I drive home on Saturday, I'm going to go absolutely insane getting ready for the Yuletide.  

Right now, though, Saint Marty is enjoying the calm before the Christmas storm.