For Valentine's Day, I'm Wrapping Up Christmas

There were some loose ends from Christmas that have been nagging at me. Pictures were taken but have remained unposted, and leftover baked goods were taking up valuable real estate in my freezer, long past their expected move-out date. So, I woke up today with a plan.

I gave everyone I saw during the holidays a crocheted plastic bag and some muffins, banana or pumpkin spice. I was panicked all December about making enough muffins for the masses, so I made way too many. But instead of handing out even more to friends and family, I decided I wanted to distribute them to people who don't normally get home baked muffins, the homeless.

I called a few shelters, but they refused them, so I determined that we should take them to one of our neighborhood parks, the one that is always filled with homeless and poor people. I didn't plan to do it on Valentine's Day, but it worked out perfectly. The weather was cloudy today, but not too cold. I wasn't feeling amazing, but I was well enough to walk a mile or so, and do a little talking and smiling. I was a little afraid of getting a bad reaction, but everyone was really nice. Some people said thank you and some didn't. One man was sleeping, so I left a muffin next to him on the bench. A group of kids made jokes about whether they were edible, until I smilingly said they didn't have to take one if they didn't want one. One boy laughed and said he was just kidding, banana please! Some people said no thanks, and that was ok too. It was nice to be outside, talking to others, sharing food and making people smile. I spend so much time in my house, and in my head, that it's easy to lose perspective. Today reminded me that I am a citizen of this world. And I am very proud to have fed a small portion of my comrades.

The boyfriend and I were arm-linked and silly on on the walk back home, a little giddy on giving. He suggested that we should do it again, maybe try to make it a tradition, and I heartily agreed. Happy Valentine's Day to us.

So, now that I have all of this freezer space, I feel I should empty out my "to blog" photo folder a little, too. Specifically, those christmas bags have got to go. 

I kept this water-bottle sized bag.

This was the last one I made. I felt pretty fancy with the color changes.

Tri-color close-up!

Ahhh, that's better. Merry Christmas. Happy Valentine's Day. And to all a good night.