Oasis

This week has felt a bit like a return to the tired blur that was the week before I submitted my dissertation. The deadlines are mounting up. My viva is only 9 days away. I have three job applications due on Friday, each requiring a significant amount of customization. Then there's the paper, so close to done, that I really want to submit before the job applications so it can go on my CV. So close to done, but so much left to do -- final proofreading, formatting to journal specifications, trying to fit in a trip to the library in the midst of all the craziness to check a few last references, beating out concluding sentences late at night when my tired brain just can't think anymore.

But on Monday night, we did this:

Last autumn, when we were engaged, Anthony and I would occasionally carve out time of an evening to savour a glass of port with some cheese, biscuits, and freshly-cracked walnuts. It was our way of making space for beauty and civility in the midst of a hectic and difficult season. I love now that cold weather has come and we can do this again -- when life is busy but much less stressful -- in our own house, by our own fire, without having to say goodbye at the end of the evening.

We'd planned this special supper for Sunday night, but we took a long and delightful walk to Hyde Park that afternoon and arrived home so tired we didn't really want food. But that meant this simple and elegant meal was ready and waiting after a long day's work on Monday. It only took a few minutes to set everything out and light the candles, and it turned an ordinary working evening into something special -- an oasis of calm in my deadline-pressed week.