Tag: first snow

An Ode to an Early Winter

~ pebblesandclay ~ Leave a comment

Snow Day 

Today we woke up to a revolution of snow,

its white flag waving over everything,

the landscape vanished,

not a single mouse to punctuate the blankness,

and beyond these windows

 

the government buildings smothered,

schools and libraries buried, the post office lost

under the noiseless drift,

the paths of trains softly blocked,

the world fallen under this falling.

-Billy Collins-

 

I really like poet Billy Collins’ use of the word revolution here. The first major snowfall of the season is like that – a forcible overthrow. We went to bed in one world and woke up in a completely different one.

L9t0WowiSGSTYLeswCkskA.jpg
And just like that everything changed.

Winter has set in early this year and has left many of us reeling. The skies have been spitting snow almost continuously since the first snowfall and our lives have had to move indoors sooner than usual.

OrLvfeqzQc21LvE9N7NfDg.jpg

Four o’clock is now the end of the day. Street lights come on and people start thinking about heading home before dark descends and makes driving that much more difficult.

agh47mwqSVKprVo8m3z5GA.jpgWalks to the mailbox are now  along snow-covered and sometimes icy roads. Wise people wear crampons on their boots and have their ears tuned for any approaching cars. Snow softens and quietens things.

qUE6jIbQRmeXueAY%Tuq1A.jpg

Deer that are on the move have to make their way through fields of snow. Not an easy task. They too will need to stay closer to home and hunker down on the coldest of days.

xRA4KS41SDmArP03hUbp3AIt’s really hard to describe the experience of winter to someone who is not familiar with it. It’s quiet and soft, harsh and dark, stunningly beautiful and invigorating, cold and cruel. It’s sometimes all of these things in just one day. It builds character, some might say. Certainly it forces us to dig deep. We have to find peace being with ourselves during long dark days and nights, unearth the motivation to get out and connect with others even when it feels hard, and discipline ourselves to keep moving in a season that often makes it difficult or uncomfortable.

IMG_1019

Most children love winter, so maybe we can do as they do: build the snowman, lace up the skates, and clip on the skis.

Winter well my friends!

 

 

 

 

 

Seven Things Learned in Seven Days

~ pebblesandclay ~ 1 Comment
  1. The first snow feels a bit like anticipating the visit of a crazy relative. The anticipation takes over your days and no matter how much you prepare you never feel ready. When the day finally arrives you feel strangely relieved – let the craziness begin!OQ3RYMf8ScWomgddXeja+w
  2. The general rule for feeding birds is: Do not feed when it might cause harm. I’m thinking all of our relationships could be improved by adhering to this “do no harm” rule. yB4lHOETQo+bI07B9yrsGw
  3.  The bulbs I buy each fall have been sitting in the entranceway for the past month and a half. They remind me every time I pass  that I have unfinished business to take care of before winter sets in. By some miracle, the bulbs I bought managed to get planted this weekend on a wildly, windy day that froze our hands. It felt appropriate somehow to be planting seeds for better times on a day like this.d0ZOEgwaReqpZL7BWYYieQ.jpg
  4. Seeing a cardinal at the feeder first thing in the morning on these darkest of days lifts the soul. Our cardinal only shows up briefly first thing in the morning and again at dusk. It’s as if his startling red is a gift only for the people who are aware of his illusive movements.  My goal from now until Christmas is to try and find the pops of red, wherever they may be.fullsizeoutput_bb4.jpeg
  5. I never tire of the first rays of morning sun flooding the landscape from the window where I write. Each sunrise seems more beautiful than the one that came before. How is that possible?k91LDUJqSVmQNx7Q1cRnDg.jpg
  6. New cookbooks are the very best purchase to start off the fall/winter season when we are drawn back inside and the fireplace and stove become the focus of our days again. The cornbread pictured here is from Ottolenghi Simple. The book should probably be called Ottolenghi Simpler because as delicious as it was it still took two of us about thirty minutes to prepare. My first introduction to Ottolenghi was walking by his shop window in London on one of my visits to my daughter. IMG_3432.JPG
  7. Questioning our beliefs is probably the single most effective practice to bring about change in our lives. Isn’t it strange that many of the things we have believed all our lives simply are not true?  I missed my chance? Is it true? People shouldn’t be angry. Is it true? I don’t know what to do? Is it true?

 

 

 

Winter Sets In…Be Brave My Friends

~ pebblesandclay ~ 2 Comments

The first dusting of snow of the season feels like a warning: time to move out of fall mode, time to change wardrobes, time to put the snow tires on the car, time to get serious. It marks a shift and usually catches everyone by surprise even though we’ve been trying to outrun it all autumn.

IMG_0211
First dusting of snow. November 10, 2017.

The first major snowfall marks a whole new chapter. It’s the part in the winter story that marks the rising action. It’s here we start to get inklings of some of the struggles that the characters might be about to face.
2014-12-21 07.49.50.jpg
As an example, I thought I would share a short segment of me getting ready to go to town after our first significant snowfall. It felt like preparing for a polar expedition and went something like this:

  1. Shrugged on my longer length down parka and then realized I had forgotten to fill the wood stove. Threw some logs in the fire.
  2. Rummaged through the baskets in the entrance to find wooly hat and heavy duty mittens. Put on warm winter boots.
  3. Realized I was wearing boots and would be needing shoes once I got to the office. Back upstairs to collect shoes.
  4. Walked gingerly across the now icy and snow covered paving stones to my parked car covered in six inches of fluffy, down-like snow.
  5. Remembered to brush some of the snow away before opening the car door to retrieve the scraper on the back seat.
  6. Open purse brushes against back door as I’m doing this and fills with snow. Try blowing and shaking it out. Give up and and throw it in the front seat to deal with later.
  7. Start the car to defrost the windows while I continue to brush down the car.
    Fluffy snow from the roof of the car finds the groove at the back of my neck between where my hat ends and my coat collar begins. Remember this feeling from last year.
  8. Leave the remaining snow to blow off as I drive away.
  9. Arrive at the office and see that the snow in my purse has melted into my shoes sitting on the top.  Think about wearing them wet like this anyway but decide instead to put them on the heater.
  10. Smell burning. The leather tab at the back of my shoe has turned the colour brown we aim for when roasting marshmallows. The rest of the shoe is oddly soft and wrinkly.

Welcome to winter everyone. Be brave. Be strong. We can do hard things.