Snow Covered and Slippery

Ooftah! What a winter. Snow, cold, snow, cold, freezing rain, cold, and on, and on. It doesn’t even phase me anymore when I step out of the door in the morning, and am met by a 4 foot drift of snow. City and county highway salt supplies ran low weeks ago, so driving roads that are snow covered and slippery has also become the norm.

I was treated to a magnificent nearly full moon this morning as I slipped and slid my way to work. According to Native American culture, this full moon as known as the Snow Moon:

Feb. 20, 10:30 p.m. EST — Full Snow Moon. Usually the heaviest snows fall in this month. Hunting becomes very difficult, and hence to some tribes this was the Full Hunger Moon. This is also the night of a Total Lunar Eclipse. North and South Americans will have a ringside seat for this event and will take place during convenient evening hours. Observers in western Europe and western Africa will see this eclipse from start to finish during the morning hours of February 21.

Weather permitting, I hope to catch a glimpse of the eclipse Wednesday evening. It is expected to be very colorful: red and orange and brown. But I am not nearly as excited about the eclipse as I am about March’s full moon:

Mar. 21, 2:40 p.m. EDT — Full Worm Moon. In this month the ground softens and the earthworm casts reappear, inviting the return of the robins.

From snow and ice to worms and robins in a month? I sure hope the Native Americans got this name right!

Snow Ghosts

We have been blessed with lots of snow this winter lending a bit of magic to what could have been a rather cold and leaden December. Walking up the staircase at night, cup of hot chocolate in hand, I pause at the windows and can see clearly across the field and beyond. Even when the moon is less than full the snow seems to glow as if a light bulb has been buried beneath it’s billowy drifts.

Deer have taken up residence in the alfalfa field just beyond the lawns edge. Some move ghostlike through the field pawing up tender shoots for grazing. Others bunker down in beds on the driveway, nestled up against the snow banks which provide protection from the winter winds.

At 4AM I descend the staircase, empty mug in hand. The snows luminescence glows through the windows high on the wall above my head. I pause again at the window, and then the next window and the next, until I have made my way to the kitchen. Often, the deer are right where I left them the night before. Other times I circle the house window by window only to be disappointed.

Eventually I turn on the kitchen light. It’s bulb glares at me, dispelling the magic I was feeling just a moment earlier. In a few minutes hot coffee and my morning commute will replace those moments of solitude and wonder with the sharp jangle of the other world that lurks beyond my windows.

Winter

Old man winter came knocking on our door yesterday afternoon, for the 3rd time since Thanksgiving. Despite temps in the low teens, we had several hours of sleet and freezing rain. The world is an ice rink this morning.

Quinn and Brent drove to Stevens Point yesterday for a 3PM hockey game.  At 5:30 Pm I got a phone call from Quinn.  “We are in Waupaca. It’s a mess out here. We are looking for a hotel.” Some areas of the state got 6 inches of snow – much more than I see when I look out my window. The thermometer reads a balmy 36 degrees at 6:30 this morning, and as Quinn and Brent arrived home from their adventure, the ice crusted snow drifts were starting to melt.

Ah – winter.

Stolen..

I found this poem buried in a box of old pictures. It is typed, double spaced, complete with title and by line – obviously done with care. I wish it had a date to give me a better glimpse into the life of the author at the time it was composed. All I have to go by is the yellowed paper, and the uneven. blotchy text caused by a typewriter ribbon that has been used to much. Do you remember those typewriters – where you had to insert the little white “correction tape” behind the ribbon to white out errors? The passage of time has ways of sneaking up from behind in the most unlikely ways.

This morning, I became aware that the earthy, color infused aura of the fall season has quickly been replaced by frost laden mornings with star struck skies. It seeemed an appropriate time to post this poem, as tribute to the season of autumn, and the autumn of life.

Autumn

By JoAnn

We gaze at the beauty of the leaves on the trees,  as the green fades, and the forests are dressed in hues, of red and gold.

How majestic they are as they prepare to die and fall, leaving a great emptiness with branches, oh, so bare and cold.

Strange  some mortals cannot seem to see something of beauty, in our old folks, in their autumn of life.

The green beauty of youth has faded, but left – instead – wisdom gained from years of laughter and tears, joy and strife.

Yet too many of us seldom look upon their beauty. Instead, they are tolerated, forgotten, or ignored. What a terrible waste.

God has made them majestic also, as they prepare to fall into his loving arms – leaving a bare spot that cannot be replaced.

Oh, Henry

“The cost of a thing is the amount of what I call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run”

Henry David Thoreau

Moon Beams in My Head

I am sitting by the kitchen window, through which I can see the enormous harvest moon rising to the east.

If the year were 1907, would I be out in the fields tonight gathering the last of my crops under its luminous beams?

And tomorrow, would I arise weak limbed and weary from my physical labors?

And later, would I notice the squirrels hoarding acorns and pine cones, leaving nothing but the barren earth to protect the forest floor?

How long before I would busy myself at the wood pile, anticipating frost laden mornings and autumn’s last hurrah – the cascade of crimson, orange and yellow – as the leaves fall – wet and heavy – to the ground?

And would I take time to reflect on the moon’s everlasting beauty, to give thanks for the gift of the moon beam, to honor the simplicity of nature, to gather strength for the seasons ahead.

Checking in

I have meant to post many times in the last month or so – just have not found the brain power needed to wrap my mind around producing something of substance. My brain drain has mostly been due to the writing class I am taking. At the start of class the instructor reminded us that for every credit, most students put in an hour of work per week. 3 credits – 3 hours right?

Huh!! Not for me, and not when it comes to capturing my thoughts on paper. I would estimate I spent 9 hours the 2nd week, completing the reading homework, the writing exercises, and delivering 2 essays. This course should help me learn how to make this process less time consuming, and more productive. I am enjoying the process.

Of course, life continues. Quinn is playing touch football on Saturdays. They’ve had 2 games so far – won one and lost one. Brent is coaching of course; he also had difficulty saying no to activities he loves to do, even though his free time is already limited.

Quinn is also back in the swing of school life. He is taking 5th grade math – which focuses on concepts and problem solving. He gets excited about doing his homework, and often does so without being asked. This is a nice change.

Finally, the garden is winding down. We had 2 light frosts last week, which did in the last of the basil, tomatoes and peppers. The spinach is still going strong, however, and is growing better now than it has all summer. The flowers are tinged with brown – a sure sign that summer is coming to a close. My favorite season is upon us. Joy!

Drop us a comment to let us know what you have been up to.

Note:I might be using the blog to supplement my homework assignments. Of course, you may not notice, as my rambling nature already infuses much of what I say here.

Guide To Simple Living

From Susan Susanka – author of Not So Big House, and Not So Big Life.

It really is SIMPLE 🙂

1. Follow your passions
— When you pursue what you long to do, you are far more likely to be present in what you are doing.

2. State your intentions, then let go
— When we try to force things into being we limit and condition the flow of what is unfolding, and frequently stop the thing we’re longing for from happening.

3. Be obedient to the situation
— Observe what it is that life is asking of you, and make it a practice to do just that. This simple rule will present you with opportunities for your own growth that you’d never imagined possible.

4. Go toward that which you are rejecting
— Look carefully for the things you refuse to do, and give them a try. Behind each is a locked part of your full potential. By saying “yes” instead of “no” you’ll discover the doorway to more of your true self.

5. Do one thing at a time
— When we multi-task we cannot be completely engaged in what is right there in front of us. By restricting our activities to one thing at a time we set the conditions for our showing up more completely in our lives.

Falling Behind

Where has the summer gone. It feels like just yesterday that I was planting the garden. This morning, I am drying my first batch of basil, sage and cayenne pepper. For the next several weeks, I will be devoting many hours to drying and freezing, peppers, tomatoes and onions.

I have a pepper in my garden that I have not grown before, called Holy Mole. A Pasilla pepper, it is mildly hot at 700 Scovilles, with a nutty, tangy flavor. I have 6 plants and they are loaded will green peppers. When ripe, they turn a dark purple color. I can’t wait to try one.

I am also planted tomatillos this year for the first time. The tomatillo (toe-ma-tea-o) is of Mexican origin and has been introduced into the United States. It now grows everywhere in the Western Hemisphere and is common in Texas gardens. The husk tomato plant produces an edible fruit enclosed in a thick husk. The husk is brown and the fruit yellowish when it is ripe. The plants will grow to a height of three to four feet. My plants are about 3 1/2 feet tall. The husks are a bright green, but there is nothing in them yet. Hmmm. Maybe we don’t get enough hot weather here?

Quinn is already done with league baseball. They are playing one last tournament next weekend. He will have several weeks of free time until hockey camp in August. He needs the break. (so do we).

Brent has been traveling during the week, and spending weekends outside with his plants and the rock fence – which is done. We will be finishing the paths with flagstone when we accumulate enough. We also need to get the steps put in. We are still using construction pallets at the mudroom entrance. The front door doesn’t even have that. We are hoping to get the vines planted yet this fall, along the poles of the pergola. Ivy for shade – bittersweet for the birds – and grapes for us!

See how I start to get ahead of myself. Back to the present – I have one more batch of herbs to get in the dehydrator, and then it’s time for a bike ride.

Keeping Things in Perspective

Some interesting quotes from Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Biceps, by Oliver Brody.

Article Summary:  These men, and others like them, have started a muscle revolution in Afghanistan. Their thinking: if they can build their bodies, then maybe – just maybe – they can rebuild their nation.

 

 “When you have nothing, no plumbing, no electricity, no heat, a glass of milk for breakfast if you’re lucky, when all you have are your own two arms, your own two legs – and sometimes not even that – that’s where you begin.”

 

“A more-or-less normal 21-year-old Afghan, Najibullah Mohammed Shayef (Najib for short) works as a carpenter. Right now he’s building a table for an American rooming house. It should take him about 6 hours. His real ambition is to be an engineer — building on a larger scale. He was accepted to study at the local university, but as the sole breadwinner for his family of nine, he can’t afford to go. How, then, to explain Shayef’s upbeat attitude, easy smile, and relaxed manner? And the fact that he wakes before dawn every day to attend a private English class and work out at the gym, after a breakfast of bread and tea? Tell me, I say to him. How do you do it? Shayef shrugs. It’s easier in the summer, he admits, when watermelon is in season.”

 

“”Ambition is dead here,” says one of Khamosh’s friends. It’s easy to believe, given the beating this country has taken in the past 30 years — from the Soviets, then rogue mujahideen, then the Taliban, then the American rescuers, and now the Taliban insurgency. But Khamosh doesn’t buy those excuses. He’s 22 years old and studying economics at Kabul University. Here’s his short list of things to do: 1. Build some factories, so Afghans no longer have to work on the street. 2. Build housing, so Afghans won’t have to live in ruins. 3. Build a new university, so Afghans can learn, and better themselves.”

Determination dished up sans the silver spoon.