 I am on a quest to winter well. I live in a very Northern, rural area where winter can be fierce. It is also long. I will not settle for 5-6 months of misery each year. Also, winter is a big part of the heritage of Northern places. As I am always looking for ways to build and benefit from heritage, I know I cannot ignore winter. So, I am on a quest to fall in love with the darkest, coldest days of the year. Here are five things I tried this past winter that I will absolutely be repeating.
(Photo: winter sunrise over Mirror Lake in January on my annual New Year's solo retreat)  For those who like to see other people's reading lists to build their own (like me!), I thought I would share my 2025 reading list. I am adding my 2024 list too. I was first-trimester-tired last December and didn't share it. Hope you find some books for your 2026 list...and happy to take recommendations for mine!
 I need solitude to recharge. I am usually quite good at making time for it no matter how busy work and home life are.
But not in this season. I am currently two months post-partum with my 4th son. His three older brothers are all under 8. We have outgrown our small home and to say that finding space and finding quiet at home is hard is a huge understatement. My usual way to recharge away from home - spending the night in the Adirondacks about an hour away - felt out of reach. My 2-month-old was not ready to be left overnight yet; life is more hectic than ever. I just kept telling myself I could take time for myself this fall. Or maybe by winter. Someday I'll get some space. But not now.  This 2nd quarter has been expectedly different from normal. The middle month of Q2 (May) was my due date for son #4, which means the first month of the quarter was the stressful lead up to labor (April) and the final month of the quarter (June) had the sleep-deprived weeks of life with a newborn. With these unmovable realities of my quarter, I knew this season would be different.
 I write this on the day of my 39th birthday. I carved out a few precious child-free hours to post up with my laptop at a favorite local place to write. I woke early this morning (3am to be exact, I am nursing my youngest) and in the dark morning hours wondered how I was looking down the last year of my 30s. While my 40th birthday seems the time to reflect on the decade past and dream about the decade forward, for some reason I feel like doing it this year. In a world that feels increasingly negative or scary, I don’t want to wait to dream of beautiful things. Perhaps this reflection will be something to think about all year long. Perhaps I will now have time to modify and think deeper on these goals. Perhaps when I reach my 40th birthday, I will have a whole year’s worth of clarity to launch with more purpose than ever before. We'll see. So here is a bit of a life reflection and some bucket list items I think I would like to go after in my 4th decade.
 In August 2024 I started a new job very different from my old position as Assistant Professor of Anthropology. A few weeks later, I discovered I was expecting my 4th child. These two were a lot to juggle mentally and physically. Progress with my consulting work under my LLC Modern Anthro Consulting reduced significantly. Luckily, I had worked ahead a bit before starting the new position. The rest of 2024 was characterized by having little time or energy to do anything but rely on those reserves.
When 2025 started, I wanted to recommit to my consulting side work. With New Year energy, I worked to find ways to fit in consulting around my full-time job and family obligations. I thought I would share some Q1 notes here. Make no mistake, progress is still slow. But it’s not non-existent, and for that I am happy.  In March of 2023 I established a business entity around consulting work I had done on and off for a few years. What seemed at the time to be a good financial decision turned out to benefit me (and my family) in more ways than I expected. While growth of my consulting and business entity is slow (it has always had to be third priority after my full-time role and parenting), growth IS happening. A look back on 2024 helps me see progress and pushes me to keep growing in the new year.
 A tough season punctuated with some small professional wins and worthwhile happy things. To finish what I started (blogging periodic updates this year), I will share the last few months in brief.
 These were surprisingly challenging months. I didn’t expect that. I faced new obstacles and complicated emotions. I am happy October is here and that some of the discomfort that came from chaos (August) and change (September) is behind me. Onward and upward!
 Two very full months. I read a lot, worked on a lot of fun work projects, did a LOT under the "Things I Enjoyed" category and kept moving nonstop. Here is an update on life these past two months!
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AuthorDr. Kathryn Grow Allen ('Katie'): Anthropologist, Archaeologist, Writer, Researcher, Teacher, Consultant, Yoga Lover, Nature Enthusiast, Book Worm, and Mother of Four. Archives
April 2026
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