Sunday, December 22, 2013

winter solstice

 i have moved away from traditional christmas 
to an awareness and need for a
solstice celebration
 but of course there is the last
day
of 
school
to get through before
the holiday.
 so we resorted to video
the morning group: the polar express
the afternoon: santa claus conquers the martians
my belly hurt from laughing!
 as we watched, the rain/sleet/ice
came down and began another storm.
 so on saturday afternoon
we had some icing
 pretty 
very lovely 
 really amazing
 hollyhock seeds
 icy slippery elm for aimee
because that's what we've been 
talking about.
and then night fell
and fell.
and the electricity went out,
taken down by some iced trees
who gave up last night.
 at my house there's no backup heat
except this
 which ate wood
all
night
long.
yawn.
 more ice today.
st lawrence county is under 
a state of emergency.
and hannah is coming home.
my nephew's family, too.
but not yet
 the grandmother maple
in the back yard
is still holding her limbs,
the white pine, is not.
i dug into one of these piles
(this one has hosta under it)
and dug out another day's wood.
but this afternoon
a miracle:
electricity again!
i am eager to move off grid 
these storms will then be far less difficult.

17 comments:

  1. Lovely photos and captions, Ms. Velma.


    Stay warm and have a wonderful holiday season!


    Treena

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  2. treena, how kind your comment is! thank you very much, and to you and yours as well.

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  3. wow! beautiful pics (but secretly deadly wot) .... I love looking at snowy pics but I don't think I'd love living in it!!!!

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  4. ronnie, ice is the stuff i hate, snow is welcome, even cold, but oh, that ice. crampon time!

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  5. I can hardly imagine how cold it would have been without that fire Velma, but all day and night they do get hungry! Lovely images and I'm so glad the grid has returned for you. Safe travels for all of your folk.

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  6. fiona, this was only a little uncomfortable, a small one. the last big ice storm was 15 years ago, and i was out of my house for 21 days.

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  7. oh, Velma, picture perfect but so cold - and dangerous. Stay warm, I hope the electric stays on, news from the East is frightful! Here we have nothing but rain and fog - Canada's banana belt. Have a good rest and enjoy your time off. Warm hugs.

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  8. jean, it's just another symptom of winter! i am fine, only a little stressed!

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  9. challenged ourselves with heating with wood. not easy really. sleeping next to the stove.
    but near 70 today believe it or not

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  10. jude, a good challenge. but wow, so warm! must be weird.

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  11. Wow.... so strange. We have a temperature inversion going on here. I just came from Boston where it was in the high 30's, but up here, it was 63 today, mud season and melting snow and whacy, whacky! Now, fog. Your landscape is beautiful. I'm always reminded of that frozen room in the Dr. Zhivago film. The beauty of ice storm is profound, and so is the danger and distruction, such is life. Happy belated Solstice to you!!

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  12. Oh my what beautiful photos! Not sure if I'd like all that cold though :) Try to stay warm...and safe.

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  13. Great good humor. Seventy in New York and the streets are deserted in my neighborhood. Hey, I'm curious how you intend to get off grid. Do you have plans?

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  14. enjoy your time w. hannah.
    sending warm hugs

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  15. valerie, nancy, michelle, neki, power went out after midnight, came back at 10. my white pine is decimated, but i'm well. hannah enroute from maine, where the weather is bad. here, for now, all is very well (except missing hannah)

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  16. Ah the terrible beauty of an ice storm so dangerous yet magical when the sun comes out... have only seen one big one and that was in NYC way back in the late 60's, the city was silent nothing moved the sun sparkled on the icicles hanging off all the telegraph wires it was like fairyland!

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  17. mc, no snow, just more white/ice coming down before the big cold comes.

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