Prepping for Christmas and Winter Corrie Style
There are a lot of people like me who sometimes start a task which leads to another and another and so on. One Saturday morning I straightened a shelf in my garage, and at 1 p.m. my garage was so clean that I ended up parking my car in the driveway for the next two weeks.
Right now, I am in the middle of my Christmas decorate-cleanup-prepare-for-winter extravaganza. This is an annual event in the Corrie N. Cody household that started out simple and morphed into something that I learned to ride like an old gelding that cannot be bothered to break into a canter.
When it comes to Christmas decorations, Corrie is a traditionalist.
Like my garage adventures, my holiday prep was originally unplanned. I went to my storage room for my Christmas decorations. After the boxes were removed, I noticed a layer of dust on my downhill skis, and the laces on my snow shoes were frayed. My fly rods were completely unorganized. And DON’T get me started on the state of my ice climbing equipment.
The result was a stressful weekend spent cleaning, organizing and decorating. By Sunday night, however, I felt a sense of accomplishment. I also wondered why I stressed myself out, and I decided that I would enjoy the process.
The ice climbing equipment has been double checked and is ready for frozen waterfalls.
Here’s my list of tasks:
- Fill up my CD player with Dan Miller discs and crank the volume.
- Remove and set up the tree, ornaments and lights.
- Find a new home for the inflatable decorations that certain friends keep setting up in my front yard when they know I’m out to dinner. What can I say? I’m a traditionalist.
- Sharpen my skis and call Sleeping Giant Ski Area to ask about the latest conditions.
- Double check the condition of my snow shoe bindings and be thankful that I don’t have to deal with laces anymore.
- Clean the storeroom.
- Scotchguard my hiking boots.
- Oil the locks and hinges on my rooftop rack.
- Drop off my skates for sharpening and get ready for another season of indoor skating at the Victor J. Riley Arena and Community Events Center.
- Get out my synthetic base layers, snow boots, gloves, hats and other winter clothes.
- Reload the CD player.
- Drop off the snowmobile for a tune-up and safety check.
- Enjoy a clean and organized house and look forward to another outstanding winter.
We have a pretty good idea what will be in the CD player.
Until next week, I am lovin’ life – and asking Santa for a high-capacity CD player – in Cody Yellowstone.
