icebound

This is the view from my front window. Looks like a black and white photo, but that's actually color. All too familiar around here, especially after the horrible dose we got last year.




This one is a little closer view of the icicles hanging on the redbud tree right outside the window, and it's worse now than when I took these an hour or so ago.

We're supposed to get 3/4" to an inch more before midnight tonight.




So back to the first photo. See the little berm framed by the two trees? It stands out as whiter on the photo. This is the planting area we put in last fall ~ come spring, this will (hopefully) erupt in a riot of color. Perennials, ground cover, a couple shrubs ~ and I'll make it a work in progress through out the summer.

In fact, as I was taking this, I thought how a photo shot from this window would make a good calendar of the changing seasons. I'll try and remember to do that ~ it's added to my endless list of mental notes.


We added that berm because of last year's three ice-storm whammy. Three nights in a row of sitting in the house in the dark and listening to these trees crash and die, along with others equally as beautiful.

There's only one in the picture, but she was part of a duo. Two immense, huge pines that towered over the house. I used to pet them in the summer--they were those soft pines with feathery needles--and in the winter they graced our house with their seasonal scent and soft beauty.

It broke my heart to see them go.

But one of the constants in life is change ~ and I know I'll enjoy digging in the berm, the increased sunlight and the new color right outside the front window.

So anyway, back to today's ice. I had to go out in it. Lots of packages to mail, but mainly a dentist's appointment. I didn't want to go, and came this close to calling and canceling. But it was for some work I've been anxious to get done, so I bundled up and drove clear across town. It took a couple runs at the little hill at the top of our road to get out, but I made it with time to spare.

The dentist didn't.

I finished errands since I was out driving around in an ice storm anyway, and came home to find the message canceling on my answering machine. To be fair, they had called before I left, in fact before I was awake, and I hadn't checked messages before I left the house, since I'm forgetful and the little red light doesn't come on anymore to tell me someone's called.

So I'm home now, and dry again, and I started a huge pot of chicken noodle soup and some bread, and then I sat down at my new spinning wheel.

Isn't she gorgeous? And a little bit of a challenge until I changed the drive band and did some more oiling; then we got along fine. She's a rare one I got on eBay for my Christmas present to myself. And there's a name for her, which I can't remember right now, but I'll be glad to look it up if you're interested.

This is what I spun today. It's looking uneven, but the colors and the roving are beautiful, and I'm sorry I can't remember where I got it. It's Merino and Colonial, I think, and fun to spin. But it's uneven because I've been trying to learn to do long-draw, and I can't get my yarn to come out very evenly. And being me, it didn't occur to me until after I was done and not extremely happy with the yarn ~ probably best not to try a new technique with a new wheel. I do challenge myself sometimes.

I've only been spinning for a few years, and I regret that I took so long to learn something I've been wanting to do as long as I can remember. Think how much better I'd be by now.

But the joy is still there, and that's all that matters. Doing something you love so much, that time slips away and you're off somewhere in your own world, with only the soft flutterings of the wheel and your most private thoughts.

Is there something you really, REALLY, have been wanting to do for a long time?

Start today.

and stay warm!