days of shadow, days of light

lately tristan says, "take a picture of me," and then poses with a funny face

days of spring are upon us. 
time to cast off the layers of winter and open the windows of the spirit. 

what fresh energies and endeavors will you roll out into the light?

time to sit, listen, and observe. 

there is new life in the trees, in the tall grasses at the edge of the woods.

illumination and shadow. seamless sky and cloud cover. 

aqueous expanses to germinate the promise of a future. 

arid stretches on which to bask in the details of an unfolding brocade. 

so much silly to balance out those moments, when the children are tucked in, 

and you're left with the dross separated from a golden day.

on the sunny side

on saturday evening we returned from a day in town to a powered up house. 

it was a great relief, i must say. 

the next day we woke to sunny warmth and decided that a hike was in order. we went to sugar hollow. 

we encountered a lot of this along the road and had to park quite a distance before the parking lot.

but walking there is wonderful, whether you are on road, trail, or river's edge.

there was some snow

and snow melt

the season's first butterfly

rock tossing along the river

and lots of photo ops

march certainly has come in like a lion. we shall see what other surprises are in store for us. 

right now i'm loving hot and cold water, my oven, and a house that is warm throughout. 

my kids are too.

snow march

i went to bed to this

and woke to this

you have to understand, this much snow is a BIG deal around here. the trees crumble under its weight. the roads become impassible. and then thousands of people lose power.

our power went out sometime in the wee hours of wednesday morning, and has remained thus. we are on day three of camping around the woodstove and cooking on the front porch (i am currently spending some time in town to enjoy the luxuries of internet and espresso). 

in the era of wild storms and extended power outages, i am so grateful for woodstove, axe & saw, campstove, cooler, shortwave radio, some candles, and a bathtub full of water. oh and woolens!

the first day was all fun. . . 

when the milk was still good, so was the hot chocolate

but now that we are day three of no power, it's getting irksome. we are all grumpy. it's weird to be so close to powered up homes and businesses, yet feel so isolated. life goes on as usual, yet nothing is normal. tristan has been waking up extra early, immediately excited about feeding the woodstove and seeing the snow. we're tired. yet i am acutely aware that this is nothing compared to the suffering that goes on across the planet due to earthquake, hurricane, tsunami, war, and famine. we are extremely fortunate and have lots of canned food.

above, just one of many similar scenes on the roads in our area. notice the downed line on the right. 

and in the photo below, notice the tree leaning on the power line to the left. there is a whole row of trees resting on the power line just a few yards beyond.  

homes with trees on them

branches that have snapped off, tree after tree after tree

how do you cope with lack of electricity and water? 

what are your favorite and least favorite aspects of a power outage?

weekend round up

today started off with this baked dish (again) and these biscuits. eggs from my friend's chickens. locally roasted coffee. 

later tashi and i went to the paramount to see the princess bride,  viewed often, but never before on a big screen. it was good fun. i will definitely see more films there. affordable popcorn. tasty coffee. and a beautiful historic theater.

tomorrow evening i have this to look forward to!!!! i may be a mellow girl, but i do love rock & roll dissonance!

and then snow? we shall see what mid-week brings! in the mean time, some firewood gathering is in order! as well as some granola baking, breakfast bar making, and my first attempt at no-knead bread.