snow day and the third sunday of advent

we were out early for a walk in the snow . .

zuzu enjoyed watching the snow whirl by . . 

the view from the living room window . . 

breakfast with chanda .  .

talking on the phone with morgan . .  

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this evening we welcomed the third sunday of advent . . 

the first light of advent is the light of stones,

light that lives in seashells, in crystals and in bones.

the second light of advent is the light of plants,

plants that reach up to the sun and in the breezes dance.

the third light of advent is the light of beasts,

light of hope that shines in the greatest and the least.

and we sang:

people look east the time is near,

of the crowning of the year,

make your house fair as you are able,

trim the hearth and set the table -

people look east and sing today!

love the guest is on the way.

furrows be glad though earth is bare,

one more seed is planted there,

give up your strength the seed to nourish,

that in course the flower may flourish -

people look east and sing today!

love the guest is on the way.

birds though ye long have ceased to build,

guard the nest that must be filled,

even in the hour when wings are frozen,

he for fledgeling time has chosen -

people look east and sing today!

love the bird is on the way.

it's very cold now, too . . when chanda returned from visiting friends she said everything was frozen outside; sidewalks and streets were icy and chunks of snow were falling from the trees. 

and there is much to catch you up on with korrina's new job! today was her sixth day of work. of course there is much to catch up on with everything . . i will try as these next days fly by . . (here's yesterday morning).

a poem for sunday

 

the darkling thrush

i leant upon a coppice gate

when frost was spectre-grey,

and winter's dregs made desolate

the weakening eye of day.

the tangled bine-stems scored the sky

like strings of broken lyres,

and all mankind that haunted nigh

had sought their household fires.

the land's sharp features seemed to be

the century's corpse outleant,

his crypt the cloudy canopy,

the wind his death-lament.

the ancient pulse of germ and birth

was shrunken hard and dry,

and every spirit upon earth

seemed fervourless as i.

at once a voice arose among

the bleak twigs overhead

in a full-hearted evensong

of joy illimited;

an aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small,

in blast-beruffled plume,

had chosen thus to fling his soul

upon the growing gloom.

so little cause for carolings

of such ecstatic sound

was written on terrestrial things

afar or nigh around,

that i could think there trembled through

his happy good-night air

some blessed Hope, whereof he knew

and i was unaware.

by thomas hardy (1840-1928)

snowstorm morning and life in florida

it's a snowy morning . . it was coming down fine at first, but is now fast and furious and thick. it probably won't last long, and the ground isn't cold enough for it to stick . . but it is very pretty.

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i finished up the last of korrina's christmas cookie dough that was still in the fridge. the vanilla was very flaky and i couldn't get as many cookies from it, but the gingerbread was still quite moist (the added molasses in it helps). 

baked in time to have with a cup of decaf coffee for a facetime call with morgan. we watched an episode of ted lasso (season 3, episode 9) and caught up on news. morgan was making a small fold up sewing kit for harley's mom's birthday which is tomorrow (and still recuperating from a cold visit to madrid which they thought was going to be warm and sunny! but of course madrid was so beautiful it didn't matter . . ) and i watched the last of the snow fall outside my window. sadly, it stopped by 1 pm. 

amazingly enough, i finished my moving forward wrap and blocked it! the yarns are am's (oysters and purls) alpaca/corriedale in indigo and january colors, blue-faced leiscester/merino in indigo; moel view welsh mule in indigo; and humade twist in color homer-at-sea. needle sizes used were 4 and 5.

i spent the rest of the day sorting through old paperwork and then walked home with greg from trader joe's where we met after he got off work. i've been thinking about this article today, the feeling of losing snow.

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while i was feeling so melancholy because we no longer get such heavy snowfalls, kathy was enjoying the sunshine by adam's landlord's pool . . ah, the florida life!

sunday snowstorm

 sunday morning greeted us with a cold wet snow and i was happy to get out with greg and chanda for a walk along the river. 

the light through the grey mist was incredibly beautiful and the snow was very fine.

the geese always seem so cold and lonely but i think that's just me.

it snowed softly all day.

a bit of snow

 

 we finally had a little snowfall. it was very pretty in the early morning, but i didn't get out until later in the day when it had started disappearing and the streets and sidewalks were already clear.

 

 

do you see the little slipper of a moon through the tree branches?
 

i spent a good part of the afternoon trying to clean out the vacuum cleaner so the brush would rotate again. greg helped me take it apart and i was shocked at the amount of dust and hair that had accumulated in hidden areas.

 

figaro was a little curious . .

 

screwing everything back together . . hopefully it helps!

 

this is figaro's first time taking over the comfy reading chair. it used to be jack's special spot, then madeline's . . and then greg finally claimed it . . will figaro give him a run for his money?

 

our evening hot chocolate with the dwindling christmas cookies.

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morgan is back in london and had whatsapp texted at 4 am that they had landed and the flight went well.

let it snow

pluto is entranced . .

 

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janet and i took another walk today by the river . . 

the pier paths were especially icy and we had to be careful how we stepped. it was actually easier to walk in the snow.

someone was out cross country skiing . . 

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i made red bean and quinoa chili for dinner and we celebrated greg's birthday . . the two children not at home called him on the phone: one in the morning on the way to work and one in the late afternoon after classes had ended.

this one brought home cupcakes and banana pudding from magnolia bakery . . 

which were . . so sweet and good.

greg and i watched another live streamed show this evening. a week ago i bought a ticket to patti smith's evening of poetry, song and stories - celebrating fifty years of work and friendship with lenny kaye (fifty years ago they had their first job together on february 10, 1971 at st. mark's on the bowery - she tells a bit of that story in the snippet i caught above). it was his birthday present from me.