Dec 17, 2012 All Good Things



A downey woodpecker on our
rimed fencepost


On Friday the clouds melted away early in the face of a persistent sun, which made our rimed landscape dazzle. Reminiscent of "Dr. Zhivago". But even with all that sunshine, it was another day that didn’t get above 20.

After chores and lunch, I baked cookies. This is the first year in forever that JB’s Mom, Celeste, has not baked Christmas cookies. At 91, I guess she’s entitled. But it is also the first time in 50 years that Aunt Nene and Uncle Jack have not made smoked cheese for part of everyone’s Christmas present. The type of cheese they used is no longer on the market. I realize that all good things must end, but two in the same holiday season?! Oh, whine, whine, whine. I made my favorite of Celeste’s cookies from her recipe and they turned out just scrumptious. I also splurged and ordered a variety of cheeses and sausages from Swiss Colony while I was ordering a couple of gifts for a couple of others on our list.  So I guess we'll live through it.

I could publish a thick book of rime photos with all the ones I have taken in the past four winters, and still I take more. It is just too much of an incredible sight not to.

This time of year our refrigerator gets way too full, so I put some of the big items out on the porch, like my bottle of margaritas, yogurt, etc. I would like to have a nice wooden cabinet for the winter porch in which to hold such items. Hmmm, sounds like a good project for JB.

Saturday - socked in and 14 degrees. Frozen fog, what the Indians called pogonip. It was replaced by snowfall late morning, and by mid afternoon we had more than one inch. Whenever it starts snowing I get the urge to fix a cup of cocoa. . .

With Friday night being pizza night, we always have leftovers for lunch on Saturday. We have a toaster oven, but it pulls a lot of electricity, so during this season of short days, I have started using the big propane stove oven for warming and toasting, and have discovered that toast made in it is actually better than made in the toaster oven. Even the warmed-up pizza comes out better. I put the food in the oven, right on the rack, and turn it up to 350 for ten minutes. Then turn the oven off and leave the food in for another five minutes.  And, Viola!

Saturday afternoon JB made focaccia bread. A new recipe that turned out just perfect!

Sunday dawned bright and partly cloudy. One to seven inches of snow in the forecast for this 24 hour period. By late morning the sun was hidden and the snow was falling. The sun managed to peak out again about noon, but by 2:00 pm we had light snow again, and by 5:00 pm we were getting about 1" per hour.

On their morning walk, JB and the dogs heard a wolf howling in the canyon to the south of us. We get a bit lax in carrying a gun every time we go out, thinking the dogs will keep the wild things at a distance. But I guess we really need to be more vigilant. There are a lot of small animals and deer for the wolves and cats to feed upon in this area, but I just wouldn’t want to meet of the four-legged hunters without a gun to scare it off, or protect myself.

After lunch JB and the dogs took MAX for an outing, while I stayed at home to read. I just haven’t been very adventurous since Thanksgiving. More inclined to stay inside warm and cozy, curled up with a book. But when they didn’t come back for a while, I called JB but got not answer. So I got all bundled up and walked down past the hair-pin turn a ways where I met them on their way back. Got a ride back up and we stopped to get the card out of the game cam.  Back home, I brought in a couple loads of fire wood. It was 24 outside and I am amazed at how much difference the few degrees between 20 and 24 make in keeping warm out there. I had put on my overalls and while getting the wood, I had to unzip my coat and take off my gloves!  Got photos of coyotes again, and a 4-point buck.

I have now read about half of the 28 The Cat Who. . . books, but I am also rereading my books on angels. I have a small library of such books that I have collected over the past 35 years or so since I actually had an angel experience myself. Since then I have been fascinated by them and interested in other peoples' stories of such encounters. Unfortunately my interest ebbs and flows as life intervenes. Up Here there is plenty of time to ponder them and read about them, so my interest flows once again.

Larry and Elsie drove up last night for their Christmas visit, but couldn’t stay to play marbles. Elsie had a pot of chili cooking on the wood stove and they still had to run their generator for a couple of hours as they usually do in the winter. But we chatted for an hour and enjoyed the company. The subject of wolves came up and Larry is very aggressive about not wanting them around.  I, on the other hand, am very passionate with the opposite view.   I can see both sides of the argument, and that’s what hurts. Because it is what it is and there’s nothing that can be done about it. The wolves will always lose.
The predicted winds arrived about 5:00 this morning and there was no sleeping after that.  At 7:30 JB went outside so the dogs would too.  He went up to check the solar panels and had to brush the snow off the generator inside its shed.  Snow coats every available nook and cranny.  The screens on our windows are packed solid.  It's a good thing we have enough eggnog and chocolate, because I can only imagine what the drifting is like on our road.

Thought for the day:  The earth I tread on is not a dead inert mass.  It is a body - has a spirit - is organic - and fluid to the influence of its spirit - and to whatever particle of the spirit is in me. Henry David Thoreau