Winter is my favorite season – the melancholia of autumn has subsided and in its place has settled a hush. I want to be cocooned by the chill, so I invite winter indoors to warm up the house.

I was able to do take down the Christmas decorations with no hint of sadness this year. Maybe this is because I have a home. Whatever the reason, I have many plans for 2014, though I won’t call them resolutions. Resolutions imply “resolve.” I’m too much of a question mark to be “resolved.”

Surround yourself with home – even when you can’t be there. That’s one of my plans, and perhaps the reason why I wasn’t chased by The Shadow when un-decorating for Christmas.

The Mardi Gras season begins after the twelfth day of Christmas, on the Feast of Epiphany or “King’s Day,” which is January 6. This day is also the day of MawMaw’s birth. If she were alive today, she would be 101 years old.

Thinking of her as I re-decorate for winter and Mardi Gras surrounds me with home.

I’ve placed the things that have meaning to me on the baker’s rack in the dining room: crocheted snowflakes, Willow angels from my sister-in-law, a candy dish from my aunt, and MawMaw’s cut glass dishes.

Oh, but there’s more! So many special people in my life to include in my winterscape – what would home be without them?

On the top shelf I’ve placed water bottles from France – the center one being a gift from my mother. Cousins gave us the decanter and highball glasses on the occasion of our wedding, and Norm and I indulged in this Baccarat clock before we left France in 2011. The jester reminds us that winter isn’t winter without a hint of Mardi Gras somewhere in the house.

Round out the dream with some votive candles, an idea I got from my friend Karen at Beatrice Euphemie.

Winter whispers understatement.

Winter is a magical.