A Wondrous Sight

I rolled out of bed this morning and immediately grabbed my camera.  Couldn't get very far, but was able to open a couple of the sliding glass doors on the porch and 'hang out'.  Looks like we got about 8-10" of very wet snow that now appears to be frozen to the trees.   Frankly, these photos do not do it justice...

 

I'll be going to the gym later, if I can get out.  Supposed to be a balmy 34°... a veritable heat wave!

Simple Pleasure

On Saturdays while middle daughter goes to the gym, Richard watches the baby. She arrived this morning bundled up beyond free movement and sporting her purple Ravens hat. She smiled her new four-toothed grin as her mother unbundled her. She's been a little clingy (the baby, not her mother) because she's just getting over an ear infection, but her Poppy doesn't mind. He carries her from room to room showing her all kinds of treasures. For some reason she is enthralled by our white plantation shutters; she stares transfixed as Richard opens the slats and then closes them. Actually, come to think of it, Richard is transfixed, too. Hmm...
I wanted to go to the store before it got crazy -- they've called for snow and rain in our area. When there is the slightest threat of snow, people around here go nuts. Grocery stores are the worst place to be as people scramble for milk, toilet paper, and necessities like M & M peanuts.
Anyway, before I went we had time for one song and dance, and so the three of us danced to "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter. A simple but magnificent pleasure: dancing with our grand baby. It doesn't get much better than that.

Weather Changes

Today when I left the house for my appointment with Cheryl (MyLadeda) the thermometer in my car registered 47 degrees. By the time I reached Riverside (great coffee!) for our decaf, non-fat lattes, the temp had dropped to 44, the wind was ferocious, and it was snowing! After my appointment - about an hour later - it was 37. This is leading somewhere, hang in there.

Weather changes such as this are not uncommon, at least in Maryland, and I'm sure in other places as well. One other time a weather change took us unawares was when middle daughter was in high school. Her field hockey team was scheduled to play an away game in Poolesville, MD, about an hour from here. I had planned to ride to the game with the Athletic Director, Carol, (I taught at the high school my kids attended) after classes were over. When Carol and I got in the car it was about 70 and balmy, a lot like it had been for the previous week. We noticed, however, that the wind had picked up. Listening to the radio, we learned a front was coming through and they warned of drastically dropping temperatures. We worried a bit as we were not dressed for cool weather, yet alone cold, and neither were the girls. But how cold could it get, right? It was mid-October, for heaven's sake!

By the time we arrived at the field (wouldn't you know it sat atop a huge hill?), the temp had dropped to 50, but the sun was still out. The game started, it began to cloud over, the wind increased, and the temp dropped even more. The girls played surprisingly well, but I couldn't imagine how they could even hold onto their sticks. Any exposed skin was rosy from the cold. One of the parents reported the wind chill was in the teens. I didn't see much of the game. I was wandering around picking up sticks to start a bonfire. Luckily, Carol stopped me before I lit it -- it had been a dry summer and fall. The girls won in sudden-death, double overtime or it would have been a long ride home. Me, I wrapped myself in the floor mat from Carol's car, turned on the heat and prayed for thaw.

Tonight, we'll have an early dinner with friends and then come home and probably be asleep long before the apple in the Big Apple descends at midnight. I wish you all a blessed New Year. Peace, Kathy

PS a favorite poem by Adrienne Rich entitled "Storm Warnings" can be found at this website: http://www.atmos.umd.edu/~dankd/adrienne.html -- Please check it out.