White

pure morning light is

captured and held by the snow

for just a moment

 

 

 

 

winter's spell so cold

holds us in  freeze-frame magic

still pause between breaths

Good Things About Winter

 I have to admit it- I'm not really a big fan of winter. Where I live, winter is made of gray skies, ugly brown hills, and mud (if it's not below freezing).  Snow is pretty, and sometimes gets me a day off from work (yay!), but we don't get much of that.  I don't do well without adequate light, and cold weather just makes me want to curl up and hibernate.

So, I'm trying to learn to go with the flow, because, obviously, I can't fight it.   I probably won't exactly fall in LOVE with it, but my goal is to at least accept winter with a modicum of grace.  Or, if that proves impossible, to stop whining about it quite so much.  To that end, I decided to make a list of the good things about winter.

1.  You don't have to mow the lawn.  (Okay, that one's really lame, I agree.)

 

 

2.  Snow is pretty amazing; it makes the world look fresh and clean, like a brand new sheet of paper.

  
3.  It gives the trees and other plants a chance to rest.

4.  Bare branches look lovely against the sky.

5.  It makes Spring seem so magical when it finally arrives.

6.   A cozy fire in the fireplace is deliciously  enjoyable.

7.  With not as much to do outside, I have more time, when I'm home, to make art. 

8.  It gives me this great opportunity to become more open and to grow as a person.   Hahaha!  Well, I'm making an effort, anyway.  I'm sure I'll think of more good things about winter, and when I do, I'll let you know! 

I the meantime, don't forget to stop by The Altered Page for more of Seth's

 

First Big Snow of the Winter

This past week was our first week back after winter break, and, as luck would have it, our first real snow of the winter.  Consequently, we actually had only two days of school, which is a nice way to ease back into it, in my opinion!  

It's so cold, Arlo is willing to cuddle up with Sophie, despite the risk of getting his nose scratched!

Now, granted, what qualifies as real snow in Kentucky might seem laughable to some of you; we had four to five inches.  Okay, I can hear you laughing.  However, like much of the country, we've had record-breaking cold temperatures, so the snow on the side streets that weren't cleared just froze.  School buses don't skate well.

One of my favorite gifts this Christmas was this fantastic bird feeder, from my sister-in-law, Donna.  It had not been in use very long when the snow hit, so naturally I was out on the back porch taking photos like mad until my finger was too frozen to push the shutter button. 

The birds had white beaks from digging down into the snow to find seeds...

The cadmium red cardinals were so unbelievably bright against the white of the snow; they were almost orange. 

 

This little guy was adorable!   I'll have to look this up, but I think he's a titmouse?

I'll have to look this one up as well...

A female red-head woodpecker- apparently she lets her mate wear the pretty red hat, but he refused to pose for me.

Another cardinal waits in the tree for his turn at the food...

while his mate says, "Come on, hurry up!"  or maybe, "Back off, it's all mine!"

The dogs get all revved up when it's cold outside, just like kids playing in the snow.

Arlo runs through the snow like a little maniac! 

It's too cold to stay out for long, though.  Sunny stands on his hind legs and peeks in the back door window when they want in... 

Bye for now!

The Suspenseful Tale of a Bipolar Week, or, Snow and Ice and Viruses- Oh My!

Well, the past week has been sort of bipolar, from good to bad, frustration to joy.
First, joy: the beautiful snow, plus a whole week off from school! I took my first real photos with my new camera, and had lots of fun watching the birds. It was great.
Then, frustration: my computer stopped working. It started with a notice from my anti-virus program, so I ran a complete scan. The next morning (last Monday, our first snow day), no internet. Then my battery backup surge protector stopped working, making a horrible screeching noise. Without going into boring details, I spent lots of time on the phone with the manufacturer, who finally decided to send me a new one.
Joy! The problem would be fixed! So I unplugged it from the battery backup and into the wall.
More frustration: I still could not get on the internet. After trying all the fixes my son knew, I called the internet provider. More large chunks of time on the phone later, they decide I need a new modem.
Joy: Another snow day, but we have a 4WD truck, so went and got the new modem.
Frustration: After installing the new modem, I still couldn't get on the internet. The anti-virus program detected 41 viruses. WHAT??!!! That's when I noticed the anti-virus system that kept popping up wasn't the one I had installed. Apparently, it was a virus/spyware thing that was taking over my computer like those creepy alien things in that movie.
I called my son (who had lost electricity due to the ice storm), for about the 10th time. We spent much time trying to get rid of THE THING, but to no avail. ARRRGH!!
Joy: More snow days, so I had time to do some artwork, seeing as how my computer was not working.
Frustration: By about Thursday, The cabin fever set in, yet the roads were still icy. My son thought he could download a program that would get rid of THE THING, and email it to my daughter, who lives down the street from me. She could then put it on a flashdrive and bring it over. The email didn't come through. My daughter had to work. She also had to do homework. She was cranky, and my kids decided that I was addicted to the internet. Ha! They couldn't live without it for ten minutes on a bet.
The cabin fever grew.
Joy: She finally brought it over on Sunday night.
Frustration: It would not install. We kept trying, and it just kept disappearing.
Joy: Just when we were about to give up, it installed. I started the scan, and went to bed.
More joy: Monday morning, it had run for over 5 hours, and seemed to have conquered THE THING. YAAAAAY!!!!
And even more joy: We have another snow day today!


Does anyone know what kind of bird this is? I think he's very cute.





Deep and profound lessons I learned from this experience:
1. Too much of a good thing (i.e. snow days) is not a good thing.
2. Neither is too much of a bad thing.
3. I really, really, really HATE computer viruses!
4. My kids are way smarter than me, as well as kind and patient.
5. Many things look very weird when covered in ice.

Real Snow!

I realize that this isn't a big deal to many of you, but we don't often get a foot of snow in Kentucky, so I'm excited! Snow just floated down like big white feathers, it streaked sideways in the wind, it fell in buckets and just kept coming. Then the shiny ice pellets came, sounding like millions of june bugs tapping on the windows. This was followed by- guess what?- more snow!


Since we've been off all week (believe it or not, we teachers are more excited than the kids), I've had time to work on art, and also to try out my new camera. I stood on my back porch and took pictures of birds at the feeder about 30 feet away; if had set up the tripod (not really practical in the snow) and zoomed in all the way, I could have taken pictures of their eyeballs. I LOVE this camera!


I call this cardinal Marilyn because she loves to pose- or really, she's probably just a glutton because she's always at the feeder. I thought she was beautiful, though, and she didn't flit around as much as the smaller birds. Did you know that birds can move astonishingly quickly? Unbelievable! I really did need a tripod.


Hey! I just found out we have another snow day tomorrow! Whoo-hoo!