In the bleak mid-winter, frosty wind made moan, Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone; snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow, in the bleak mid-winter, long ago.
~ Christina Rossetti, 1872

January. Is it still January?
Yes it is. But here we are already in the middle of it! This bleak, dark month will eventually end and will be survived. I’m trying to survive the “January” of my life right now but…surviving just so happens to be my superpower.

But let’s not be so melancholy. Let’s focus on some positives—and maybe even some fun things about January!

Winter is a time for rest, for planning, and storing energy. The bare trees are quietly resting and funneling energy into the buds that will break open with new leaves in spring. The dry hydrangea flowers of last summer hang on as a reminder of the soft pink blossoms that will bloom again in June, and the emerald green moss stubbornly refuses to turn shades of winter brown and beige—a welcome reminder that a season bright with color and light is slowly on its way.
Even my Hudson River seems like it’s in quiet reflection as it flows in and out with the tides.

The wind roared round the house, 
the rain beat against the windows… 
her heart was heavy with the weight of many sorrows. 
Every thing was cold and comfortless.
~ Jane Austen - Sense and Sensibility, 1811

Okay…sorry, that was pretty melancholy. But Jane has a way of saying things that hits just right.
I promise I’ll lighten things up a bit! How about some January fun facts….

January 2 is National Cream Puff Day!
Yes, I know. We’re way past January 2nd but—think about it—Christmas gets an entire month! I think the delicious wonder that is the cream puff deserves a
month-long celebration too.

Cream puffs are a French confection called choux à la crème. They go back as far as the 16th century and have been popular in the United States since the 1850’s. The usual fillings for these awesome little bombs is Chantilly cream (vanilla whipped cream), some sort of pastry cream or even ice cream.
I filled mine with Chantilly cream and chocolate pastry cream. Luke celebrated by devouring all four of them as an after school snack. 

January may be the coldest—and subjectively darkest—month in the northern hemisphere, but it’s also when our planet is closest to the sun! This is called perihelion.
We reached perihelion on January 3, 2026, at which point we were a mere 91,403,637 miles from our star as we cruised by on our annual trip around the sun.

It sounds paradoxical, doesn’t it? That the coldest month of the year is also when we are closest to our main source of heat? 

January was added to the calendar by the Romans, named for the god Janus. However, the Anglo-Saxons called it Wulfmonath or “wolf month”, and the full moon of January is still known as the wolf moon.
Apparently, this was the time of year when wolves were especially “hangry”—and a bit extra in their hunting and scavenging activities. 

So yeah….January. Not so bad after all.
Relax, have a cream puff, and bask in the glow of the rays of the sun as we pass at a hairs width of our very own star (in a cosmic sense anyway).

But watch out for wolves!