But that January day. It neither rained nor snowed, but both. There was no steady wind from some one point, but stinging blasts that came from every quarter. It was neither warm nor cold, but chilling to a degree that made all wraps unavailable. I stayed home.
~ Charles Conrad Abbott
(Days Out of Doors)
I love seeing tree branches capped with snow. Looking deep within, is that running water behind the tree?
That is a road behind the tree, but I LOVE your interpretation so much better! We planted the tree 7 years ago to improve the “view” outside our kitchen window and it helps a lot! I will imagine a river out there from now on. 🙂
I knew something was up because there was no snow there, I thought it was a flowing stream. 🙂
Now I’m dreaming of a bubbling brook meandering through a snowy landscape…
I stay at home too…just bringing the garbage out, I need my boots with ice spikes so not to slide and fall – BUT I have a warm home and good food and an excellent mattress . AND Annie Dillard’s books – di you read her “An American CHildhood” – I have v ery rarely read something SO vital
I guess I’m spoiled because my husband takes the garbage out and checks the mailbox. 🙂 He even does the food shopping! I get all the inside chores, like laundry and cleaning, and at this time of year I am very happy with the arrangement. I’ve read some Annie Dillard, but not “An American Childhood.” Will have to put it on my long long “to-read” list. Thanks for the suggestion!
I stayed home. My summation of this last year. 😉
I did, too, except for the allowed walks outside. But right now those walks don’t feel like the sanity break they used to be in the spring and fall… Brrrr…
Oh so many of us have stayed at home this year. My friend recommended a book called “Wintering: The power of rest and retreat in difficult times” by Katherine May. She shares a lot about soul renewal, and how we, as a culture, have been forced to “winter” this pandemic year. And then there’s the cold winter weather here today. Brrrr! Staying inside for sure, except maybe a jaunt or two to the mailbox.
Great photo, Barbara! 🙂 And I have ordered the Katherine May book about wintering that Kathy mentioned in her comment. Meanwhile, I’m staying inside, too, except for feeding the birds, fetching the mail, and taking out the trash.
Thank you, Timi! I hope you will stop back and let me know what you think of Katherine May’s book. I did mean to keep taking walks this winter but the bitter cold finally got the better of me. Doing yoga instead and reading, might as well hibernate, right? 🙂
Hibernation is what I am doing!
Enjoy! 🙂
Thanks!
Oh my, Kathy, it’s been such a long year, even for a homebody like me. I think March 15 is when we started staying home… I will add the Katherine May book, too, to my “to-read” list. The other day I was telling Tim that it felt strange to say but that I might miss this staying-at-home business when it’s over. Right now I’m reading “The Bear and the Nightingale” by Katherine Arden. Larisa & Dima gave it to me for Christmas and I’m loving the story. (With the mail troubles it arrived long after Christmas!) It’s been a long time since I’ve read any fiction… It reminds me of “Kristin Lavransdatter,” but set in medieval Russia rather than medieval Norway. It’s brrrr here, too, and the Arctic blast hasn’t even got here yet!
This looks like so many of our trees right now, thanks to the 3-4 inches Mother Nature dumped on us. They’re so beautiful when they’re outlined with snow!
I think so, too. I’m glad I took the picture (through the glass) because by late afternoon it had all melted. And now this morning an “Arctic blast” has arrived. More staying home. 😉
“it neither rained nor snowed, but both … neither warm nor cold, but chilling” – I love this quote and your dwarf river birch. Everything about your post (including your captions) is so poetic.
Thank you, Ju-Lyn! I’m so happy you enjoyed my quote and photo. It seems like all we’re getting this winter is bits of snow followed by freezing rain — it’s a bone-chilling combination.
I love that expression: bone-chilling!
Brrrrrr………..
A lovely photo. We’re expecting snow on Monday. I hope to capture some as you have here.
Thank you, Tara. We’re expecting snow on Monday, too. May we both have some good luck taking pictures of it! (And may it not finish off with freezing rain…)
Our weather is ugly today – we didn’t get the 2-4 inches of snow, just 1 1/2 inches of wet snow, but it ruined the clear roads. Cold is fine … why ruin the cold with snow I ask? Parts of the Midwest are dealing with snow today – maybe you too from what I heard on the news earlier. Your tree is beautiful Barbara. I don’t like snow, but it pretty when it settles on trees and becomes so picturesque.
Hang in there, Linda! Winter won’t last forever! (Or so they say. Sometimes it seems interminable…) My groundhog isn’t seeing his shadow this morning so we’re getting an early spring, right? Well, yesterday we had a huge snowstorm, 10 inches of snow and terrible howling winds. All day I worried we would lose power but thankfully we didn’t. I much prefer snow flurries but the huge flakes at times yesterday were kind of pretty. 🙂
Yes, no shadow is always good news … so you’ll luck out Barbara! You would think it would be the opposite. I heard about the snow in your state and an accident with the truck crashing and submerging in the pond. Sounded brutal for the rescue workers plunging into the icy water. Ten inches is a lot of snow. We are having three inches Thursday night, but maybe mixed with rain (again) but then the temp goes 20 degrees below normal and stays there for about five days or so. What a mess that will be … I have to go out and run the car which I do every day, but with those temps, it likely will be like a skating rink. My garage is attached, but you have to go outside to access it. I wish it was March 2nd, even if it means wishing my life away! Stay safe with this snowfall – I know it is beautiful to look at with it is newly fallen and pristine.
That was quite a rescue operation. Didn’t know it made the national news. Some witnesses said the driver, a woman, was doing donuts (to make your car spin in tight circles, especially on ice) in the adjacent parking lot when she lost control of the truck. She got out of the cab’s rear window but her passenger was too large to pull himself through. The firefighters struggled to pull him through just in time. It might have had a tragic ending. A very close call. I hope they learned a good lesson. Well, at least February is a short month! We’re expecting another storm on Sunday…
People are just crazy when it comes to driving anymore. Okay to do donuts, but when you endanger yourself, you want help and the first responders might have been injured. The story was on the CBS national news on the radio. We had a drunk driver in the wee hours of the morning plow into the median of a fast-moving, busy expressway. I don’t like this expressway as everyone drives way over the speed limit – anyway, he smashed into the median on purpose, taking a lamp out and the lamp fell across the expressway hitting a car on the other side and that driver crashed into another car. The world has lost it. No, not another storm already! Happy February is a short month. We have our disastrous weather forecast beginning tomorrow afternoon with the wintry precip, then in the Deep Freeze after that for five days or so.
“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.” ~ J.R.R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings)
I hope you stay hunkered down, Linda, safe and sound and warm, for your storm.