10 below, warm inside

this winter people are dealing with really harsh weather.

here i am in my warm farmhouse.

post holiday

night is beginning to fall

a little bit later

and the iced snow reflects light.

inside, where i pretty much stay

except for quick walks,

i've been busy

prepping for the classes in oz,

mapping the nyfa grant proposals,

printing papers for a book.

and i find myself

wishing the cold wasn't so cold,

the days not so short,

the sky not so gray.

this is why people stray south

in the cold time.

coyotes

little critter

photos from two days ago

today there's more snow.

and the sky is bright with minus 10 COLD and BRIGHT!

weaving pages  

~~~

the old, the new

 late afternoon

december 31, 2013

happy new year

christmas break wandering

 a grey birch bends over the woodshed

 it was a year for apples

many still left on the wild trees

 the back meadow

 becoming a woodland

 a few milkweed stalks

here and there

 wild apple

 every winter you must

eat an icicle

 frozen bark

 those apples

can you guess what it tasted like?

joy

 north country holiday happinesses

what day is it?

electricity is back on,

two nights without

 trees, well it was raining trees.

the big white pine in the back yard

is very very trimmed.

one fell in a neighbor's woods,

a flock of blue jays relocated.

i hauled the big branches from the driveway.

wonder if/when a vehicle will

come inice.

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.

snow dance

the ladies are wearing white

 in the deep afternoon

 long pre-solstice shadows

 on the one clear day this week

 see how many colors of snow there are!

 as daylight 

sinking already

 about 3:15 pm

and up close. 

you can see

how beautiful the work

of humans  

in the landscape

can be.