Winter, Visas, Bowl

صَحْن

root: ص-ح-ن / noun / plural: صُحون / definition: bowl, dish

In case any one of you hadn’t noticed that daylight hours have dwindled to their almost-minimum: it’s winter. (And if you actually hadn’t noticed, I apologise for being the bearer of this heavy news.)

That is, of course, unless you’re over on the other hemisphere—in which case: enjoy your summer. (Mustering any more enthusiasm would make me an empath.)

And now that my weatherwoman bit is out of the way, what I meant to say with the seasonal announcement at the start is that it’s time to buckle down.

This is the time of year—early nights, keep-you-inside cold, and endless hot drinks—where I become overwhelmingly aware of my spring deadline(s) and panic drives a parade of productivity which keeps me glued-to-desk most of the time.

Although, this year, I can’t really say glued as I’ve been buzzing around my new home and around London doing this, that, and the other. Like cooking for a dinner party of ten, taking a pottery wheel class, and trying to find plates in TK Maxx to match my others.

But I’m nearing the end of another stage of my PhD research, which feels like an achievement, and then I remember I’ve neglected to update my supervisor for the last two months.

I jot that down in my to-do list, where I’ve just ticked off “sort visas” for an upcoming trip, added “buy mozzarella”, and where “do PhD work” ever remains.

I think about the little bowl I made in that pottery class and wonder what to fill it with. (Maybe dates.) I’d like to make a whole dinnerware set, but I think I’ll have to leave that until after my trip. And probably until after my deadline too.

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