snowman

even though weve had only two big storms this year theres a lot of snow out there. apparently some ambitious folk in the area have been taking advantage of that fact and competing to see who can build the biggest snowman. i dont imagine this ones in the running but it is quite tall and very cute. it made me smile all the way to work this frosty morning.

toasty tootsies

on a bitterly cold night such as this i have found the best place for my cold feet. the rest of me is rocking, right in front of the fire.

home fires burning

for reasons that are too uninteresting to even go into, the woodstove has been out of commission for about six weeks now. and sad to say several hundred dollars in conventional fuel. but today i came home to the familiar smell of woodsmoke in the yard. im happy. and the cat is cozy on the hearth once more.

flowers in winter

in winter some people spend their money on skiing and lift tickets. others buy movies or games to play inside. i buy flowers. my need for them is directly proportional to the weather outside. the colder it gets the more it snows the more i need to buy myself some flowers. theyre very much out of place with the gardens and the walkways covered in white. its odd to be handing them while wearing fleece and flannel and heavy socks. but when theyre arranged, when theyre in a beautiful vase, when i can inhale their headiness as i pass by, winter seems very far away even though its raging right outside my window.

same spot different day

see what i mean? i love snowstorms!

the bane of the season

the worst thing about winter: dirty snow.
the best thing about winter: new snow that covers over the dirty snow and make the world look pretty and clean again. until april. then youre just stuck with dirty snow until it melts into mud. but by that time you dont care any more because its spring.

tribute to an unknown neighbor

the month turns and s&s leave one apartment to move to another. what ill miss most about their old place is their neighbors. the girl doesnt know them, ive never seen them - but i love their house. just a typical white clapboard dwelling but so interesting and personalized. theres a weather vane leaning against the fence. hanging from the porch are a myriad of wind chimes whose tintinabulation drifts beyond the small yard and out into the neighborhood. in summer morning glories climb the fence and spill over to the other side. here and there small metal objects are suspended on nails. and on a wall outside next to the door, there hangs a mirror. like the kind you put up over your dresser in your bedroom. only this ones outside where it can reflect weather and wildlife and folks who visit. every time i pass this place i wonder about the people who live there. in my mind, theyre arsty and creative, daring and courageous. left over hippie types who throw convention to the wind and let it go tinkling thorough their wind chimes day and night, all year long.

sing of spring

a great day to get out with the camera and shoot some pictures. amazing color, brilliant sun. luckily i had the telephoto lens handy when i heard a spring song coming from high atop an old dead maple.

video night

movies consume me. on the couch under a quilt watching a video i can do nothing but immmerse myself in the story. forgetting everything else. rewinding and watching parts over again. smiling and crying and laughing out loud. for that reason i dont often watch movies. and when i do i watch them by myself.

new old box

i have about twenty boxes like this one. they appear old and hold thngs that dont. earrings in one, receipts in another, hair rollers in a third. the entire sewing stash in two stacked cardboard boxes painted blue and crackled to look old. q-tips, matches, stamps, small toys, hats & mittens, nuts & bolts all hidden in boxes like this one i bought today. did i need another? probably not. but it was cheap, made in china, and is just as utilitarian. this one will hide the camera the charger and all the cords that look too high tech to be in such an old place.

urban birds

right in the middle of our little rural community we have a downtown area where these pigeons long ago took up residence. they roost atop this old church building. occasionally they take off en masse and circle the town only to return again to this same roof. and theyre always there. every time i pass them i wonder. why are they in this locale? why are they in no other place in the area? whos feeding them stale bread crusts and peanuts? what kind of place is this for such a bird? they should just fly themselves to boston. or to new york. pigeon life there must be way better than it is here.

the next big thing

i brush. i floss. i use fancy toothpaste. and i visit my dentist regularly. yet is this enough? nooooo. now the hygenist tells me to get a waterpik. so here it is. i used it for the first time tonight. it was reminiscent of the time i accidentally got caught under the misting mechanism in the produce section of the supermarket. take heed london. one day this may be you.

driving home in daylight

this picture taken coming home as the radio announced it was five-thirty. 5:30! and look! its still light out - sort of. i am always so amazed when i notice the days beginning to lengthen at last. and daylight savings time will be back in less than three weeks!

rushing the season

when i took this picture i was going to blog it as sign of spring #4. but really its easter napkins and its not even lent yet. still two more days to ash wednesday. its just plain rushing the season. of course i did buy them. id be a fool not to. theyre so pretty and pastely and springy. and if id waited forty more days til the season was here they might have been gone.

weekends

saturdays i play - and go to church. but usually on sundays im home and working. cooking or cleaning or doing laundry. getting caught up with unfinished work from the last five days. working on projects that i dont have time for during the week. regrouping for the week to come. its not as hectic as it sounds - its a nice laid back kind of day for me. i listen to npr on the radio. skip makeup. wear flannel. and always i watch the birds. its the only day i can. chickadees and juncos and blue jays. titmice and nuthatches and even a woodpecker. i usually try to photograph them on sundays but they are so elusive so quick to fly. heres a titmouse who sat still just long enough to be snapped.

blizzard winds

with a storm like this today deserves two postings! outside tonight the wind is howling and snow is blowing everywhere. when it stops gusting the snow is still falling horizontally. a few times tonight i couldnt even see out there. places that were shoveled several hours ago are again socked in with snow. just look what the wind has done to the view out the kitchen window.

happy heart day

this is just a lovely valentines day. there is a snow day today for all of us here. the perfect storm that started last night is raging still. i am warm and cozy and i have roses. and i even had a chocolate from a heart box.

snow day?

new england is bracing for its first big storm of the season. a nor'easter its called. comes barreling in off the coast with strong northeasterly winds. this one coming sounds like it may last a while. on nights like this theres a fervent hope among most new englanders that tomorrow there will be a snow day. a no work no school roll-over-and-go-back-to-sleep snow day. and we have ways of helping that to happen. some of us go outside at an appointed hour and do a wild snow dance to bring on the storm. friends have a small ball with a bear inside that they roll around. some children make up silly songs and chants about the weather. adults bring extra work home. and everyone stocks up on the staples - milk and eggs and bread and an extra video from the store. what ill do is just hope for the best. and tonight before i go to sleep ill whisper a little prayer - with my pajamas on inside out, just in case.

the comfy chair

the chair in my office on campus is a far cry from the ones i normally sit in. a yellow wooden windsor chair at home. a molded plastic one in the lab. mismatched old ones in the friday haunt. and itty bitty little ones in found spaces at school. but this chair is plush and high backed - the kind you can fall asleep in. and i almost did.

a milestone

yesterday was my 100th post. i was going to let it go by without mentioning it but if i do that ill have to wait til the next big significant number to bring it up. like 500 maybe. who knows what ill be doing in 400 more posts? so i acknowledge 100 now. it sure doesnt seem like ive taken 100 pictures, written 100 captions. i have to admit i sort of like this business of blogging which i didnt expect would happen to this extent when i started writing back in september. whats different now you say? it must be you the readers. bless you for checking in with me.

tgif

these last few fridays i have taken to stopping at a quiet little spot in town on my way home. i order soup or tea and it comes steaming hot. i set up in the back room at a worn table with mismatched chairs and a tiny lamp. i read or do a little light work, i sip my tea, i listen to their music, and i leave the work week behind. its peaceful. and a nice transition into the weekend. heres the view from the window where you can find me sitting.

fruit flies

remember the end-of-january post? i almost titled it time flies like an arrow, taken from this groucho marx quote:
time flies like an arrow
fruit flies like a banana.
but i always thought this was such a stupid quote. that groucho marx was an idiot for saying it. yeah, time flies. but fruit doesn't fly. who ever heard of a flying banana? and the other night when i was thinking about it again, i finally got it. fruit flies. they like a banana. groucho marx was brilliant.

sign of spring #3

in this part of new england, there are certain signs that mark the coming of each season: geese on the wing in fall, skim ice on water in winter, the opening of the local ice cream stand for summer. and there are signs of spring. candlemas and the groundhog is always the first. our secretarys countdown at the bottom of our daily notice is usually second - and yes, it has already begun. and heres a third one, spotted today afixed to a telephone pole just before a huge bump in the road.

souper bowl

okay so its a souper pot. i made the best carrot leek soup today. lots of celery and basil and oregano. the recipe said to add heavy cream but i used fat free chicken broth instead pureeing it in the blender to make it nice and creamy. topped with plain yogurt it was a yummy way to get vegetables into me. because i hate to eat vegetables. but i sure dont mind drinking them!

looking like winter

never thought id see the day when two inches was considered a lot of snow. but thats how it looked this morning. fluffy and white everywhere. heres the holly shrouded in snow.

candlemas

i always liked the name of this day. midway between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox, its one of the first signs of the coming spring. used to be it was the official end to the christmas season, a time when all the greens and holly decorating the dwelling needed to come down lest bad luck befall the inhabitants of the home. it was also a day to bless the beeswax candles that were going to be used in the home in the year to come. nowadays its just plain groundhog day and no he didnt see his shadow. either way i look on it as a good opportunity to post yet another photo of a candle.

full snow moon

an almost full snow moon spotted on the drive home tonight. i turned around and went back to shoot it. i wished id had my good camera instead of the small one. even though its not quite full, its a good thing i caught this moon tonight. tomorrow when it is finally full its supposed to snow. hence the name.

time flies

does it seem to you like we just started the new year? and look - here's the end of the month already. used to be that january dragged, filled with grey skies and cold and snow. early to bed nights and stay inside days, one after the other each the same and in endless succession. now the days fly and are gone. is it that im busier? that im older? that i have a better concept of what time really is? i sit here on the last night of the month wondering what happened to it. the only poor comfort i have is the knowledge that tomorrow there will be another new calendar picture to look at for february. the shortest month of the year.

academia 101

tonight i taught my first undergraduate class in this room. i think it went well in spite of my nervousness. but how odd it is to be on the other side of a desk after being a university student for so many years! someone actually called me professor and i almost laughed out loud. after class i sat in my office, small and shared and in the basement of the education building. but its a hallowed space where one of my favorite instructors began her tenure with the university. would that i follow in her footsteps...

wonderment

yesterday the girl sent me this taken a few days ago at almost 20 weeks. i keep going back and looking at it just one more time. i am awestruck by the image. i see the profile. i see a nose. i see bones in the arm and even in the fingers. the parents thinks the baby is already thumbing his nose at us. but i prefer to think he - or she - is waving at grammie. and i cant wait to finally meet this small person who is my babys baby.

red squirrel

spotted this little guy sitting in the lilac in the middle of a flurry. tail all tucked up near his back for warmth i think. later he managed to raid the bird feeder by climbing inside the squirrel proof wire surround. when hed eaten his fill of the chickadees sunflower seed he bounded to the ground and began to stick his face in the snow. not sure if he was chasing the seed with a little water or washing up after a meal. finally he retreated under my house. apparently he doesnt live too far from the best squirrel restaurant on the road.

the surprise inside

im a coffee drinker so i dont often buy tea. maybe a couple of boxes a year. and every box for years and years has had one of these small porcelain figurines in it. and invariably i get the box with the cat in it. the side of the package suggests collecting them but really - how many tiny glass cats all the same color all the same pose can one person have? how do you display them? do you line them up parade style - a rank and file of cloned kitties? this one will eventually follow all the others to the rubbish. and ill keep sporadically buying tea and hoping that finally i find the rabbit.

blue light special

the yard with late afternoon shadows makes the white snow take on a tinge of blue. note the winding trails down the slope. there are more beyond the bounds of the photo. looks like mice have been snowboarding all the way from the summit down to the house at the base of the hill.

best seat in the house

for the life of me i dont know why this cat doesnt self combust. a long haired black cat sleeping on a brick hearth directly under the ash drawer of a constantly lit woodstove sounds like a disater waiting to happen. how much heat can one cat absorb? is there a feline flash point? every time i go by i scoot him out. and he finds his way back again. good thing hes still got about six lives left - he may need a few of them.

at the feeder

a junco watches the approach as this chickadee comes in for a landing.

the ice cometh, man

it has to be the coldest night weve had this winter. snow does a wild dance outside the window. gusty winds blow and send drafts through this old house. i wear three shirts and a fleece vest and still need to wear my gloves with the fingers cut off so i can type. best to turn up the heat i guess.

dad

this is my father. in life, he was a navigator in the air force, a salesman, a huge red sox and patriots fan, and one helluva piano player. when i was little he could make things disappear before our eyes and make quarters come out of our ears. he could name all the stars. he would give us logic problems and not tell us the answers. he not only knew the tune and the words to any song you could name, he could sing it and play it too. he took us to the beach in a station wagon. he brought us chocolate covered halavah from boston. he took his accordian and every kid in the neighborhood from house to house christmas caroling. and he used to kiss my mother in the kitchen right in front of us. this is how i try to remember him. i miss him still. and today is his birthday - same birthday as robert e lee.

i think i can...

ah, the start of the new year brings with it good intentions and steadfast resolutions. one of mine is to try to take better care of myself. walk. sleep more. eat better. at least for a month or so until i inevitably lose my resolve. pictured is lunch. 4 points.

brrrrrr

so cold this morning that the windows were frosted on the inside. so cold that i had to rifle around in the closet to find the fleece slippers. so cold that i wore double socks. and so cold that my car would not start. this is the winter ive been waiting for. so be careful what you wish for.

glassflake

the girl gave it to me for christmas. a pressed snowflake lovely and delicate and made of glass. i hung it in the kitchen window this morning as it stormed outside. sleet and freezing rain all day with just enough snow to make things white. the birds feeding frenzy finally came this morning and i was home to witness it. no work for me today. although i did lots sitting here at the table watching the storm just beyond the green of this glass.

for the birds

a few chickadees at the feeder today. a junco on the ground. a titmouse in the lilac. later this afternoon a squirrel. and very little else. with the forecast of a storm i expected a feeding frenzy. but for the birds it was apparently just another saturday - and business as usual.

melodymania

the song just will not leave. for days and days its been in there circling round and round in the inner workings of my ear, racing through my head, escaping temporarily from my lips or throat, only to return to my ear to once again drive me mad. an earworm its called. stuck tune syndrome. "repetunitis. " this time its eine kleine nachtmusik thats making me crazy. but at least its mozart. the most relentless earworm i ever had was the shadow of your smile. much to the dismay and annoyance of those around me, i whistled that song for years.

relish redux

at the risk of beating a subject to death - look. if you cant see click to make the picture bigger. because someone is actually trying to make a living manufacturing this. maybe its catching on. perhaps weve started something. maybe next year i'll think about seasonal employment towards years end.

home fires

this is our second winter burning wood. weve gone back to it for a third time now after trying more conventional means of heating. first time we had a woodstove was almost thirty years ago when we moved here from points south. having little experience with burning wood, i thought it would be folksy and homey and easy to do. but i spent the better part of that first winter leaning against the counter in the kitchen with snow up to the windowsills watching that old cookstove and just waiting for the moment flames would erupt from it and burn down my house. i kid you not. woodstoves have come a long way since those bygone years. thankfully so have i.

the turnin' of the broom

every family has its quirky holiday traditions and this is one of ours. on thanksgiving night after dinner is finished, dishes are done, leftovers are packed away in the fridge, and evening candles are lit, we "turn the broom" to usher in the christmas season. this in-name-only broom hangs by the fireplace all year long. on its twig handle a carved and painted santa face smiles nose to the wall. turning this santa around to face frontward is the first decorating that happens here. conversely its the last thing we do as we put christmas away for another year. and today, the day after epiphany, in a much more timely fashion than in years past, i sadly reluctantly turned the broom.

thaw?

this is my almost bare foot photographed today out in the yard on my way to the compost pile. in the middle of winter. i even sat outside and read for a while - a long while! - after i made this shot. downright balmy out there today with singing birds and fog lifting off what little snow was left at the edge of the woods. perhaps this extreme is what would normally have been a january thaw. if i didnt have calendars all around me, if i didnt know new years was last week, i could have close my eyes and just imagined it was april.

i told you so

poking around in the refrigerator this evening and look what i found. behind all the holiday cream cheese that never got eaten because we already had some and didnt really need to buy more. way in the back sandwiched between the maple syrup and the outdated sour cream. shimmering like a cranberry jewel - and stuck to the shelf. see it tucked back there where i predicted it would be? if you dont know what it is, just reference the november archive (right).

i told you so. its new years tradition.

seeds in stores in january

this is usually the very first sign of spring for me. seeing the new seasons seeds on display always cheers me and and makes me hopeful about the eventual coming of warm weather. but not so this year. winter has not been winter very long. just last week the first snow accumulated and did not melt away. but temperatures are still not very cold and the forecast for the next few days is for daytime temps in the 40s and maybe even 50s. and those temperatures sound like the spring that im not yet anticipating because it hasnt even been winter long enough yet.

on the 10th day of christmas

yes it is. its still christmas here. everything remains as it was two weeks ago. except of course the presents are open and the stockings are empty. the week between christmas and new years, i rationalize that its the holiday season after all - the decorations can stay out. after new years, i swing into epiphany mode. there are twelve days of christmas for goodness sake. i can leave the tree up for a few more of them. after january 6th i begin to run out of excuses. so i have at least three more days to enjoy christmas at home. unless i can come up with some creative reason to leave it all out til martin luther king day.

icy new year

opened my eyes this morning to see ice covering the branches of the lilac outside the window. it rained all day and ice formed everywhere. on rocks on walks on benches and rooflines. as the temperatures increased and fog settled in, i took some shots of the crabapple tree in the yard, each tiny frozen fruit encased in a beautiful crystal coat.