Farewell from 2008

Never shy about a throwing a flamboyant goodbye party, the sky and river bid us adieu with such a brilliant sunset on the last night before the New Year's Eve that I was forced to hold my breath until the cold seeped through my jeans forcing me to hurry in my stocking feet back to the house.

Alien Zephyr

A soft warm beauty more gently lovely than I had seen in a long time came visiting yesterday. She gracefully entered from the West. She effervesced a teasing smell that did not reflect or fit the gray and sleeping landscape over which she skipped. She entered with such presence that all living things stopped to watch and held their breath as if they were afraid their presence might frighten her into leaving not to return anytime soon. The birds then broke into songs that they usually saved for the best of the springtime days. Those plants that winter's icy fingers had not yet put to sleep, seemed ready to burst with renewed energy. I wandered through the nearby woods drinking in the warm smell as if I had been oxygen deprived for weeks, as perhaps I had. I closed my eyes and let her breath linger on my skin hoping to hold this memory for months to come. When I returned home I flung open windows everywhere to let the perfume inside. What a lovely gift the earth has given me this time of year.

The Tipping Point

Only with the passage of time can we look back and see the points where our life tips away in one direction or another. We are forced to slow down during the cold gray days of winter and pause with our memories and then we can review all those tipping points and think about whether we pushed to go over and tip or something tipped us.

Crow Song

The constant caw of the crows this morning actually make the early gray dawn seem warmer with an energy that only black crows can carry forward. They seem to celebrate my birthday today with their persistent call like the laugh of several buddies remembering an old but favorite joke. An old joke? Is that me?

Or are they celebrating the shortest day of the year knowing that now ever so slowly the days begin to get longer and 'psychologically' warmer?

Calamondin Cake Here I come

As you can see from the lower middle part of the picture I have already picked at least one of these orange limes...so delicious in tea or on fish! The blossoms are erupting with complete abandon and my corner of the kitchen smells like a citrus orchard. I have a lovely recipe from one of Nigella Lawson's cookbooks as soon as I have a dozen calamondins!

Fiddle - Faddle

Yes I am fiddling with the layout. Boring gray days and impatience for spring already I am guessing. Trying to get rid of the lime green but can't find the html code for that! Could only change the background for the body.

Sunrise - Sunset

As I age I find that I frequently do not know whether I should look backward or forward more often for wisdom. Is the better part of the day sunrise or sunset? Are beginnings or endings the most important to cherish and learn from?

(Photo was taken in the mountains of Italy at the end of a very gray day in an almost empty village where my ancestors once lived.)

She Will Get Your Attention

I was shopping the other day at one of those warehouse discount stores. The kind that make me feel guilty everytime I enter them. I needed napkins, paper towels, etc. ---remember my other blog and the visiting relatives?.

Inside the cavernous room people were busy stocking up on foods and decorations for the holidays. Baskets were filled with exotic pre-made desserts, large selections of cheeses and chunks of fresh or frozen meat. We all were eager to pay for our larder and get home.

Mother Nature knew we were distracted and insisted we pause, for as we left the building a fresh very cool rain had just passed leaving everything sparkly wet and as we looked to the sky not only one but two rainbows arched over the parking lot. Everyone stopped in their mad pace and strangers suddenly became wonderfilled children talking to each other and smiling at the sky.

I did not get a photo, but perhaps the words above can paint a picture in one's minds eye.

My Corner

The room without walls is graying rapidly. All of the trees are left with bare fingers pointing to the gray sky. Much is now dying or going into the long sleep. In the corner of my house facing the southwest winter sun, my tiny new calamondin tree has redeemed the gray passage for us with tiny tangy orange citrus for our drinks and is now filling the tips of its tiny branches with lovely white blossoms. Soon the alluring fragrance of citrus will fill that corner of the room reminding me that spring is hiding around another corner.

Celestial Buddies

Best I could get...if you click on the photo you will get a better view of this celestial friendship.

Wonder

The object in life should be to never lose one's sense of wonder
about the beauty of this earth and the awesome changes in each season.
Sharing the wonder with those you love is the very best of life.