So far winter has been wintery...too wintery.
Makes me think twice about the effects of global warming, winter is not my season. I think I liked it more when I was a grade schooler. Even though winter was much colder then, and snow covered the ground from early December the middle of April.
I want to see leaves on the trees, smell the woodsy aroma of moss and ferns, it is just too long until spring!!! Probably because winter started before Autumn was over this year, and as we descend into some of the coldest weather experienced in a really long time, may-be a decade....the cold, has hung on and on. considering that we are about half way thru winter, that is a sad thought.
With the shorter days came a deeper chill and deeper snow. Spending time outdoors required plenty of warm clothing and a real desire to be out side, even for the 100 yard daily trip to the compost bin. I took this as a sign, to do some serious housecleaning. OK, I have been cleaning out of sheer boredom! Fortunately if you heat with wood and coal you never run out of dust and dirt to manage.
Food, glorious food, makes one fat!!! Especially when ones is indoors so much. The trips up and down cellar stairs keeping the woodstove well fed, and the house warm don't help much. Soup of the day is an intellectual challenge , "tis a wonderment" to me how suing the same ingredients you can make so many variations, Today 's is vegetable beef, and baking bread, may-be cookies tomorrow a warm kitchen is a good place to hang out, when you are not loading the woodstove. Baking and cooking not only physically warms up the the kitchen, which is the beating heart of the, home. There is nothing that says homestyle like a few cookies and a mug of coffee while sitting at the kitchen table and watching the snow fall. Unless it would be a bowl of soup and homemade bread shared over conversation with loved ones at the kitchen table.
And!ain't it the pits. when I get to romanticizing winter. Then there are those days, with big fluffy snowflakes, falling so gently, that could be described as chilly but not cold. Those days when the landscape is hushed under a snowy blanket and perfect for a walk. Or just sitting by the window in my favorite rocker, watching the falling snow and reading.
Today the road past our house in quiet, and snow settles on the bare tree branches. The house is quiet, my main activity for the day is keeping the wood stove filled with fuel. Sadly its pristine beauty will give way to cleaning the snow off the vehicle, shoveling the path, so resting up for that sounds really good. It gets seriously quiet some snowy days the only sound is the creaking of my aging joints, the clattering of frozen branches at the slightest breeze, and the thud of snow being tossed to the sides of the driveway. The serenity of solitude is a precious thing. When form time to time there are wisps of coal smoke on the breeze , it is every so easy to time travel to a time when I built snowmen and went sled riding . I still build snowmen. My inner kiddo still shows up from time to time;many decades from the child who lived here there. For this I am grateful.
Snow still finds a way into my boots,soaks thru my cloth coat and mittens, because some things never change. Once indoors, my coat and gloves hung up to dry, it's time to start counting the days until winter retreats. Day dreaming of tilling the garden, what new flowers I will plant for the deer to eat. But for now the question is what book to read and what chair to sit in while I read. Perhaps a seed catolog will be more appropriate!
