By Sigrid Settle

Special to the Crier

I just finished taking down my Christmas Tree.   Yes, it’s Feb. 19 and I just got around to stuffing the tree in a box and storing it away.    

This year started off with the flu; my horse got an abscess; the flu turned into something more serious; I started studying herbs and their curative qualities followed by a visit from friends who I haven’t seen in over 30 years, although they did get a giggle seeing my Christmas tree in all its glory in February.    

Habits are hard to break, especially when you didn’t plan on things happening and I  became lost as to when to reschedule the tree defrocking.     

  It seemed like such an easy matter to take care of, but after the long delay I started thinking of all kinds of things that needed to be done other than defrocking the Christmas tree.    At last there appeared an incentive greater than my procrastination, a winter storm  that would cause me to defrock the tree in a very cold house.  The idea of taking ornaments down with a coat and gloves on was too much to bear as well as a higher electric bill because of my procrastination;  after all I only heat the guest house to normal temperatures when someone is residing in it and that’s where the tree was situated.   A tree defrocking does not cover guest house residential requirements.

  It’s surprising to find there are times you rely on habits to carry you through life events.  Those habits allow a form of automatic pilot which, when changed by unexpected  events, create a form of resistance that proves difficult to break through and change the parameters of that habit.      Luckily there are certain habits that break through inertia as well. 

  And so it goes at the Ranch…