I am rather enamoured with the first real snow of the season.
This morning I woke up with the first strains of dawn coming in the bedroom window. My arms felt like ice to the touch, they were on top of the blankets, bare. I remember thinking it was strange to feel so cold beneath my down comforter and then I looked out the window and saw the slow fall of white on white (each one of those crystals is unique, can you imagine?). I rubbed my feet together. I imagine, when we have all the windows replaced on our house next week, that it won’t be quite as cold in the bedroom during the bewitching hours and days and weeks and months of winter. I might miss that a bit. There’s nothing this old lady codger loves more than a good, icy draft and a nose tip that feels glacier cold.
Some winter advice:
Wear boots with tread
when stalking across
wide swaths of ice. I
stepped out of the house
in a pair of Frys this morning
and paid for it dearly.
In the meanwhile, I’ve been trying to find all sorts of wickedly crafty things to do today. So far, I’ve eaten sushi for lunch and answered emails. Somebody please, give me something naughty to do.
I could catch a squirrel and put it in Sue’s mailbox. I could tie Penelope and Pinkerton together and then throw pine cones for them to chase. I could prank phone call my parents and tell them that all the horses got loose and have climbed into the foundation of the new barn they are building. But what I’ll probably do is hunker down and write a few letters, drink more tea, package up the jewels that need to be shipped out this afternoon and I’ve been planning on embellishing a dark blue, wool winter coat for weeks now. I should pull out the sewing machine.
I’m such a bore. The good news is that I think I have officially adjusted to having RW home after having him away for 6 months during the fire season. It takes some time for me to acclimate to another person in the house at all times. I’ll bet that sounds strange. I live a fairly isolated life in the summertime and when fall rolls around, the sudden appearance of my husband in my life again comes as a bit of a jolt. Additionally, I’ve been so doggone topsy turvy these past three weeks that I feel like I’ve been pinging off the walls of life. Living hasn’t been half-bad, but I’ve struggled and struggled and struggled (like I’m climbing K2 with a gorilla on my back) with settling into work in the studio. I think this is, in part, why the finished pieces I’ve been turning out have been so varied, not to mention the pile of half completed projects I have strewn about my work surfaces. I’m not sad. I’m not mad. I’m not depressed. I’m not tired. I’m just a ferociously kinetic ball of potential energy. It’s like someone was building a circuit board and forgot to close the system so I’m simply a patch of fizzing, white lighting shooting up and down the line until I fling myself out and up into thin air and dissipate. I’ll make your hair stand on end and when I’m done shocking you, you’ll stick to the wall.
Whew. It’s not really a bad thing. It’s just what it is. But it can be mentally exhausting. I’m sure you’ve experienced the exact same thing in your lives and can entirely relate. If you happen to be mercurial in character, it’s probably ten times worse and ten times better, simultaneously. I’m going to go pop a vitamin C and a zinc. Whew. Take ‘er down a notch.
Anyway, we’re in the throes of home improvement here at The Gables. There’s a mad dash to paint things and build things between October and Christmas. I’ve gone ahead and added to the complex chaos of sanders, circular saws and fascia by booking a plane ticket to Canada in early December. My lovely sister, Erica, is popping out a baby very soon and I’d like to try to be there for it. I MIGHT EVEN CATCH IT WHEN IT COMES FLYING OUT. After the trip home to Saskatoon I’ll have a few days to recover from whatever cold I catch while I’m there and then RW and I are off to Hawaii for our honeymoon. Between now and the Saskatoon trip, RW’s entire family is coming to Pocatello for 6 days since we’re hosting Thanksgiving this year. Crikey! We may have to annex the house to fit everyone inside!
We’re looking forward to hosting Thanksgiving and though I’ve never roasted a turkey before, I’ll have gobs of goodly help.
What are your Thanksgiving plans?
Lastly, since I’m oblivious to time, in general, I missed doing a Remembrance Day/Veterans Day post on Wednesday of this week past which I feel really sad about. Remembrance Day in Canada is one of the most moving days of the year for me. It’s a day that’s rich with heritage, feelings of gratefulness, swooping fighter jets crossing the sky in formation, red poppies and the intense feeling that comes with congregating with the ghosts of the dead who did not die in vain. I think half the world is haunted on Remembrance Day, the air is thick with the spirits of those young men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in the face of tyranny.
There are memories of:
Rats and shell shock in the trenches.
The dreaded expanse of no man’s land.
The roar of artillery and the frigid sensation of sea spray on grim faces in landing craft.
The sting of mustard gas.
Small victories.
Huge victories.
Eyes wide open.
Brothers and sisters in arms.
Losing friends and family and perhaps happy homecomings.
Lost limbs.
Purple hearts.
Rumbling tanks.
Treaties.
Love letters criss-crossing the Atlantic.
Knowing the difference between right and wrong.
The triumph of good.
Real people.
I have seen the Flanders region and the white crosses row on row.
And even though I didn’t know them, name by name, I remember them all.
Rest in peace and thank you.
I hope you all have a wonderful and restful weekend,
no matter what you do!
Love to you all,
Jillian Susan
PS My absolute favorite thing about Precocious Penelope Pie is that she sometimes gets a little something on the tip of her very long sniffer and it will stay there for hours. I like it best when it’s a feather. She likes it best when it’s peanut butter.
Look at those stubby little legs…would ya?
