Saturday, February 15, 2014

LATELY STRANGE


Strange things I have seen of late:

My son's collarbone overlapping, pre-surgery
A skein of silent geese
A giant pileated woodpecker on the suet feeder: it's been very cold and snowy.  I suspect food has been scarce


I shall add to this as the need arises.

What is so strange about this, I can hear you muttering...Surely that's a garden variety geranium.  Yes, indeed, it is.  But this is a geranium which was given to me at the end of last season; it sat in the car and broiled, it was left neglected under a pine tree and exposed to frost. It was tucked on a windowsill in the basement and forgotten.  I have watered it once or twice over the winter, thinking what dwarfed leaves it had, and then bingo!  One day last week I went down to do some long overdue laundry and there it was in full flower!  I have a lot of respect for this flower.

Monday, January 27, 2014

WINTER MIRACLE

So, we were out walking the dog yesterday.  It was a balmy -22, and the wind was frolicking around our ears.  Did I say we were walking?  I meant we were goosestepping through snow up to my knees and Nick's calves.  Sometimes being married to a tall guy is a real drag and this is one of them.  I was wondering why I had left mes anciennes raquettes  looking decorative in the corner of my office instead of strapping them on and negotiating the drifted in path through the field.  We abandoned the field for the road, and had to laugh at ourselves.  What with the wind chill and the exertion, we were a good deal hoarier than when we started out!



Nick's moustache and Casey's whiskers looked like some errant elf had gone postal with a bedazzler.  But I noticed something else too.  Its a thing that happens every year around this time.  No matter what the temperature, no matter what the windchill, no matter whether there is sun or leaden cloud, around January 25th, we notice that there is running water in rivers and ditches.  THAT is the first sign of spring.  You can have your robins (they're here by the way, hiding out in the bush), for me the inexorable flow is the true harbinger.   It defies my limited understanding of physics.  I'm sure there is a geeky explanation having to do with the insulative properties of snow and the angle of the sun, but I choose to think of it as a miracle.