Yesterday's howling, tears and frustrations are a thing of the past. It is dank, grey and rainy here this morning, but my head is in a serene place, and I am ready to embrace whatever the day holds out to me in offering. There is however, still a certain wildness and longing in the air.As Bev at Burning Silo pointed out so wisely yesterday, it all comes down to snow. At this time of the year, we generally have snow here and those brilliant cerulean skies which always seem to follow the appearance of the white stuff. There is often a bracing wind on clear winter days, and they are perfect for pottering about. I have usually been out on my cross country skies or snowshoes at least a few times, and the slow sliding rhythm and diamond edged scenery of the long treks is something truly uplifting. The textures of the snow, trees, rock and icicles are magical to behold, and I fill memory card after memory card with photos: colours, shapes and the icy jewels suspended from the ash trees, white of snow, blue of sky, deep green of hemlock and cedar, scarlet splash of cardinal's wing, yellow plumage of grosbeak.
How to cope with these liminal or "in between" times? Yesterday, I hauled out my cross country skies and snowshoes and spent some quality time with them. I gave them a loving preparation for the snows which are (hopefully) still to come, and I whispered "soon, little friends, very very soon". I remembered the dazzling blue and crystalline days gifted to me last winter, and I said "thank you".
2 comments:
I'm glad you are feeling more serene today, I'd guess some of it was post illness blues. I like to have the proper weather for each season and I tend, on the whole, to enjoy whatever comes. Unseasonal weather bothers me though, it is still increibly mild here and only in the last 3 or 4 days has it started to really look like November. I discovered some primulas flowering in my garden a couple of days ago and I find that vaguely unsettling.
Bilbo isn't an anything though he has a lot of both pointer and weimerana in him. He was a rescue dog from the RSPCA, I got him when he was 8 months old as 'a bonehead, his owners couldn't control him'. It took me 6 months of training and an hour's run in the woods twice a day to turn him into a really super dog - he was simply young and not getting enough attention or exercise. Someone missed out on a really good dog. And he is pretty handsome isn't he? Most people think he's pure breed of some sort.
Looks like we'll have some more soggy weather this week. However, I try to regard all of this rain as a "positive" as I know the forests have been so very dry, and the rivers so depleted from the past several hot, dry summers. I may not care much for the rain, but it has got to be doing some good and helping to restore the watersheds of this region.
What kind of snowshoes do you have -- ash and babiche? What kind of maintenance do you like to do on them. I should really get ours out and do a bit now before we need to use them for the first time. Might be a good way to spend a couple of hours while waiting for the rain to stop!
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