Now And Then

I went outside and up the canyon this weekend, to escape the inversion in the valley and see what was going on in the winter.

IMG_1870Turns out there was blue sky and sun and snow going on–a gorgeous winter day.

I was on a trail I hadn’t been on since summer and realized when I got home that I am pretty predictable when it comes to taking pictures. This was yesterday:
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And this was at the end of May/beginning of June:
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Now:
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Then:
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I think it’s a good measure of my inner hippie’s strength (and how fast this winter is going) that the contrast between June and December didn’t make me sad. Instead I thought about the bulbs in my yard sleeping under snow, and the wheel of the year, and, of course, this poem from a kid’s poetry compilation:

I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December
A magical thing
And sweet to remember.

“We are nearer to Spring
Than we were in September,”
I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December.
– Oliver Herford

Good Birthdays Today

Today we have the birthdays of

  • Writer Gustave Flaubert (Madame Bovary)
  • Novelist Patrick O’Brian (the Master and Commander series)
  • Singer Frank Sinatra (“Old Blue Eyes”)
  • And sister-in-law Altair (friend, gardener, crafter, incredibly patient wife to my brother, and awesome mom to Skyler)

Happy birthday, Altair!

Tuesday Project Roundup: It’s A Secret

‘Tis the season for closeups of projects because you’re working on gifts and you’re never sure who reads your blog:
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It’s also the season for knitting–this will turn into something for a handmade gift exchange at work. By Friday. I am determined.
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Indoor Weekend

I was planning on hiking over the weekend, but we got about nine inches of new snow–and shoveling out on Sunday, I realized that the forecast wasn’t joking with the wind chill values. So I took pictures out the windows instead:

IMG_1836Coming down Saturday night.

IMG_1835Clear by Sunday afternoon. Not shown: The bitter cold.

I also made a festive drink and watched movies while sitting under a blanket.
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Friday Unrelated Information

1. It’s SO. COLD. here. (Windchill last night: -1.) I can only be grateful I have a weather-tight house and can afford to pay for heat.

2. Related, I can tell it’s winter and colors are limited because I just want to stare at colorful things on Pinterest:

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Pink! Orange! Turquoise! Camels!

Christmas In Space

It’s time for my favorite part of December : The Hubble Space Telescope Advent Calendar. Count down to the 25th with a new picture every day and be mind-boggled.

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(Galaxy cluster Abell 68)

 

Since I shared the calendars for 2009 2011, and last year with quotes, here’s one for this year:

“Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality. When we recognize our place in an immensity of light‐years and in the passage of ages, when we grasp the intricacy, beauty, and subtlety of life, then that soaring feeling, that sense of elation and humility combined, is surely spiritual. […] The notion that science and spirituality are somehow mutually exclusive does a disservice to both.”

(by Dr. Sagan, my science boyfriend, in The Demon-Haunted World)

Blizzard

We had the first big snowstorm of the season yesterday–at one point I looked out the office windows and snow was blowing sideways–but now it’s a clear frozen morning. Here’s some Bill Williams for it:

Blizzard
William Carlos Williams

Snow:
years of anger following
hours that float idly down —
the blizzard
drifts its weight
deeper and deeper for three days
or sixty years, eh? Then
the sun! a clutter of
yellow and blue flakes —
Hairy looking trees stand out
in long alleys
over a wild solitude.
The man turns and there —
his solitary track stretched out upon the world.

Tuesday Project Roundup: Kitty Blanket Party

I spent a good part of the long weekend prepping for the annual kitty blanket party, which was also my holiday party this year (hence all the decorating, too).

Some of the non-blanket prep, featuring the new “Merry Christmas to me ” cake stand:

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The only shot of the action (my nephew was a big help tying the knots):

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The finished blankets–28 of them this year to donate:

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And the aftermath:

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“Are they gone now, Mom?”