Hygge and Herons

On my social media feeds, I’m seeing fire places, mugs of steaming tea, scented candles, Christmas trees, cozy arm chairs, snow with naked trees, pillows on the sofa, and lots of socks.  I’m looking out my window, cup of coffee in hand, looking at a huge great egret and a small blue heron snacking on fish each.   I’m also snickering. 

The story behind my snicker is that the neighborhood took up a collection to have the pond next to us stocked with fish.  It was supposed to be for families to take their kids fishing.  What it turned into was the local egret and heron snack spot.  I affectionally call the pond, Gator Pond, turned into a water moccasin hangout a couple of months ago.  It’s bit nippy right now, so most likely we’ll see them back this spring.

This brings me to the “Hygge” concept that people have been telling me about.  I had no idea, but I was curious because I was told that I needed in my life.  BTW, it’s pronounced “hoo-gah” and I was told it was a Danish mindset of coziness.  It’s about relaxation, self-care, and taking pleasure in the small things in life.  After reading an article about it, I was thinking of a blanket fort on a snow day in Ikea while eating a bowl of mac and cheese by candlelight.  There has to be more to it…so I picked up a book, “The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish Way to Live Well.” 

Don’t get me wrong, hygge has some fabulous concepts for self-care and winter survival for people like me.  Maybe if I practiced the concept before we moved from the land of winter, I might not have obsessed about moving so much.   Mmmm…no, one of my life goals was to live by the ocean…but hygge does have merit.  

Galveston style hygge is flip flops, a BBQ grill, bike riding or reading on the beach, sunglasses, and somebody else cleaning the cat box.