Ugh, snow

January 3, 2020January 3, 20204 Comments

Look! Look! Something new and different for Iowa!

It’s snowing this afternoon. It’s the first snowfall of the year, and maybe the third one of this winter. I’m kind of happy to see it because I’m tired of looking at dead grass, but I’m really not looking forward to driving home in it. The roads’ll be a nightmare.

It’s wet, heavy snow, and it’s warmish outside, so I don’t think it will last long. It’s supposed to be in the mid to upper 30s for most of the next week. But we’re in a winter weather advisory, so who knows?

All I know is that after last winter, I’m ready for some milder weather. I’m not holding my breath on getting it, though.

The Devil Dogs

March 26, 2017March 26, 2017Leave a comment

It was a dry snow; I could tell by the way it swirled in the wind. I shivered.

Old Man Winter wasn’t about to go quietly into the night. Oh, no. He raged outside me window against the coming of the light, huffing and puffing with all of his might. We’d have another foot by morning, or I wasn’t Effie McCray.

At least it would move easily, being so dry. Thank goodness it weren’t packing snow.

Packing snow was heavy, wet stuff, perfect for felling timbers and building snowmen. But we didn’t have any old trees, or even any young ones, to worry about anymore, nor any young’uns itchin’ to build a snowman. The ice storms had already taken care of ’em.

They’d taken care of a lotta things.

I rolled over in bed so’s I faced away from the window. The fire was out in the hearth, and I was out of logs. Oh sure, there were plenty out in the woodshed, but I weren’t about to fetch more. Not after dark, no siree. My Peter had always kept…

Spring into…winter?

February 26, 2017February 28, 2017Leave a comment

It seems Mother Nature can’t make up her mind about what season this is supposed to be. We had a thunderstorm Friday that was quickly followed by a snowstorm, which meant my drive home from work was super interesting.

It also meant that my drive to work yesterday morning was super pretty.

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Luckily, the ice hadn’t yet melted when I went home, so I was able to shoot these beauties. But pictures don’t really do them justice – these trees, they were silver. And iridescent. It was such a beautiful day to be out!

Starry night

January 13, 2017January 17, 2017Leave a comment

For the most part, I love where I live. You don’t get views like this in a city:

That said, it needs to warm the heck up!

Frozen to the Core

December 9, 20168 Comments

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…

A storm rages outside my window. It’s dark, and the freezing mix makes it hard to see. Amy sounds tinny, and far away, and not at all the way I remember her in this song. In my memory, she is warm and welcoming, close enough to touch yet larger than life.

Now, though, she is tiny. A tiny woman singing a tiny song through a tin can phone.

I’m alone, and lonely, and the darkness doesn’t help.

It’s the hap-happiest season of all…

The darkness wraps itself around me, but it does nothing to ward off the chill, cannot stop it from settling in my bones, from freezing my marrow. I freeze all the way to my core, and not even my expensive down coat with its heat-reflecting interior can warm me.

I’m alone, and lonely, and the darkness doesn’t help.

It’s the most wonderful time…

I crank the heater up to eleven and then, because I can’t hear her over the road noise and the heater, I turn Amy up, too. Only it’s not Amy singing anymore, it’s Josh, and Bing, and their once-silken voices now sound raspy and grating, so I turn the radio back down. The blast of hot air from my car’s dashboard vents sears my eyes and chaps my skin, but it can’t warm my soul, and the bright Christmas tunes can’t dispel the gloom.

I’m alone, and lonely, and the darkness doesn’t help.

Oh, the most wonderful time…of the year!

Glass

March 29, 2016March 31, 20162 Comments

This is one of my all-time favorite glass photos:

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It’s the bathroom window in my old house on a frosty winter morning. The window faced west, and I love the way the early morning light was captured in the frozen condensation. This image is so full of color and texture that I could stare at it for hours.

Optimistic

January 25, 2016January 25, 201612 Comments

A beautiful sunrise is a great way to get the day off to an optimistic start.

What keeps you optimistic?

Hibernation station

January 12, 20162 Comments

Holy buckets, is it cold out there! How cold is it?

It’s so cold that I passed a bunch of penguins on my way to work this morning. 😀

The worst part is that this is an improvement from the weekend. *sigh*

Meanwhile, I’m busy playing catch-up on pretty much everything after taking care of two sick kiddoes last week, so please excuse my probable absence here this week. In addition to catching up on stuff, I’m also in the midst of reading a fantastic new book. Have no fear – I’ll share my thoughts once I’m finished! It’s a book I’ve been looking forward to reading for some time now, so I suppose I’d better get back to it while I still have a few minutes to spare. 😉

Have a great day, everybody, and in case I don’t see ya, have a great rest of the week as well! 🙂

Defeating Winter

January 4, 2016January 3, 201611 Comments

I found the following in my drafts, and I really like it:

The people here are as harsh as the landscape, but they’re not without their warmth, and in a land of perpetual winter, warmth is important. Heck, even in a world not cursed with perpetual winter, warmth is important. Grab hold of whatever warmth you can find, magnify it, and pass it on – that’s the way to defeat winter.

It has potential. Possibility. It came from a draft of a review I was writing a while back, but I couldn’t figure out how to properly work it in. Still, there it is. Waiting. Hoping.

Like people, waiting for spring.

When writers say they get their inspiration from everywhere, this is what they mean. A couple-few throwaway sentences scrapped from a review. A sunrise on a bitter winter morning, the kind that reminds you there is still joy and beauty in a frozen world. A brisk wind at your back as you walk down the street.

I can’t wait to see what this will turn into. 🙂

Christmastime is here…

December 13, 2015Leave a comment

…Happiness and cheer,
Fun for all
That children call
Their favorite time of year…

It’s beginning to look a bit more like Christmas round these parts:

Cricket adores his new train set.

I do so love this wreath. 🙂

Someone said she was NOT going to sit on Santa’s lap. Guess how well that worked out. 🙂

Time to sing about ugly Christmas sweaters!

Best. Jingle bell. Ever.

If you look closely to the left of the moose, you’ll see a little reindeer mailing a letter to Santa…

I love all the musical ornaments.

One happy Thumper bunny. 🙂

What would the North Pole be without Santa Claus and snowmen?

Looks like Donner’s lying down on the job… 🙂

Finally got our tree up!

Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree, how lovely are thy branches!

Advent calendar, take two. This is the one I grew up doing with my parents, and now I’m sharing it with my kids. 🙂

Cricket wanted to put all the decorations on the piano. 🙂

A pretty tree for a pretty courthouse. 🙂

Nativity central.

The courthouse is always pretty, but it’s even prettier at Christmas.

Every auditorium should have a tuba tree with an eighth note on top. 😉

“Santa, you’re kinda scary, but you gave me a dolly, so I don’t know what to think now.”

Mistletoe anyone?

But it’s been warmish and rainy here the last two days. Last night while we were decorating our tree, we had a thunderstorm. That made it feel rather more like Christmas in July.

The kids had their annual 4-H cookie walk yesterday morning and then went Christmas shopping at a local church. We listened to Christmas music all day, decorated last night, and watched Home Alone 2 after the boys went to bed. It was a little bittersweet, though – we always decorate as a family, and this year Seymour wasn’t home to help out. Miss Tadpole took it pretty hard, and I agree – it’s just not the same without him.

Still, I’m feeling pretty cheery after all that Christmasy fun yesterday, and I’m looking forward to working on Christmas cards this afternoon. 🙂

Have you decorated yet? Do you go all out, or do you keep it to a few treasured things? What kind of Christmas traditions do you have in your family?