SNOWY
HOLIDAY
December 26, 2010
HARBINGER
We got a portentous
dusting of snow on December 4th that lingered in the shadows of the woods
for days.
BOXING DAY
Our world was
completely changed overnight on December 25th. We woke on Boxing Day to
find Spot wearing a helmet and cape of snow. The snow laden butterfly bush
was bent down over to the fish pond forming a watery cavern.
EATING
LIKE BIRDS
Birds fed non stop
all day, jostling for position at our feeders and occasionally waiting their
turn. We noticed tiny tracks across the mud matt on our front porch
from the house finches that feast on the thistle seed Bob puts out.
IMMACULATE
There’s something
about a snow scene that soothes the soul. It’s immaculate. A clean
slate. It hides all sins.
As children,
Camille and her brothers played a game taught by their mother called Fox and
Geese. You set up the game by walking a large circle in the snow, then
creating intersecting paths, like spokes, each ending in a spiral flourish
on the outside the circle. It seems like these spirals were the safety
zones and the object of the game was for one Fox to catch one of a number of
Geese. Perhaps you played similar games as a child.
PILING UP
For a time, four
inches of snow sat atop every surface, even those as unlikely as wire cages,
laundry lines and garden scissors.
FRONT
YARD, BACK YARD
Snow filled the
bare branches of the Willow Oak and Bradford Pear, obscuring the house from view
of the road. In the back yard, snow blanketed the propane tank and air
conditioner.
DAY OFF
Not much was
moving on the roads. The power went out for a few hours at Edible
Earthscapes so our friends came over to make tea and coffee at Trouts
Farm. Turns out we are on two separate grids.
GREENHOUSE,
TAMI TANK AND A DRIVE TO BYNUM
We decided to
venture out of our neighborhood to drive up to Bynum and check on Jill and
Andy’s cat, Pumpkin and the chickens. Blanche started to slip on her way
through the gate so Bob baked her back down the driveway to a better spot.
WINTER
HIDEAWAY
Jill and Andy’s
place was hidden away in the woods. We walked in from below the gate, gave
Pumpkin some good loving and poured fresh (not frozen) water for the chickens.
THE NEXT
DAY
The sky turned
bright the next day and the sun made the snow sparkle.
CAPED
CRUSADER
Spot wore
his helmet and cape all night. He was happy to fill us in about his
crusade but we weren’t sure what he was saying.
MOODY
SKIES
One minute dark,
the next bright – the sky kept changing throughout the day.
SPARKLE
AND PUFF
We enjoyed the
contrast between sparkly icicles and puffs of fluffy snow.
SNOW
DANCE
A cold but gentle
breeze made the snow laden branches of Crepe Myrtle and Leyland Cypress sway
gracefully.
A BIRD’S
WORLD
The birds seemed
unconcerned by the snow. They were everywhere, feeding underneath the
cypress, pecking around on top of the snow capped Poplar stump and hopping about
on the crepe myrtle.
