house!

Before.

After.

'Nough said.

a pair of ragged claws

Well, it's nearly time for the big V-day. Not that I really mind. It's such a silly holiday--there's no way it could have any lasting affect on my sensibilities. I just enjoy making fun of it. It presents such a large target.

But still, I cannot allow the holiday--coinciding so closely with my return from sunny Florida--to pass without a poetic moment. Without further ado, one of my favorite passages from Eliot's The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.

I grow old...I grow old...
I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.

Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?
I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach.
I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.

I do not think that they will sing to me.

I have seen them riding seaward on the waves
Combing the white hair of the waves blown back
When the wind blows the water white and black.

We have lingered in the chambers of the sea
By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown
Till human voices wake us, and we drown.

goodbye, old year

It's official: I'm home from my Christmas vacation. Well, actually, I was home last Thursday, but have not yet found opportunity to spend time with my neglected blog. For some reason, I had quite a bit of work piled on my desk when I returned to the office on Friday. Funny how that works.

It's still there, in fact, so I'd better make this brief. Very brief. In fact, I'm leaving now.

Ok, ok, I'll leave you with one more little bit o' stuff.

With the blanket of snow we have, the darkness of night isn't quite so dark. It can be a little spooky--it's so quiet; most of the birds and critters that usually provide background music are gone until spring. When I turn out the lights, the loudest noise I hear from my bed is the refrigerator on the other end of the house, or the furnace in the basement.

The other night, when I went to bed around twelve, I clicked off the lamp but left the radio on for a few minutes. My eyes adjusted to the dark. When I at last rolled over to turn off the radio, I automatically looked out the window at the head of my bed. I clearly saw the dark shape of maple tree that I usually see--and two shorter shapes that did not belong. It took me a moment to realize what I was seeing.

Deer. Two deer were grazing in my yard at midnight, on a lunar landscape of softly-glowing white. When I woke the next morning, I could see the little patches of ground that they had cleared of snow to reach the still-tender grass beneath. Crazy.

Happy New Year

get back to where you once belonged

Well, the Thanksgiving holiday is over, and I'm back. Back to my alarm clock, back to my desk, back to my computer, back to my lime green travel mug of coffee.

And back to the Christmas season. Yes, we have eaten the turkey, which launches us firmly and legitimately into winter and the Christmas season. And I, for one, am very happy about that. I like the beginning of winter, as I like the beginning of every season. There's that sense of anticipation in the air, the knowledge that the weather is about to do something very interesting. This time of year, we watch the skies for that fluffy white stuff. When it does fall, there's soft, quiet magic. (For a couple weeks, anyway. After that, people get grumpy about it.)

And I love Christmas. I would love Christmas if I didn't get a darn thing, too. As long as I still was able to give, I'd be happy. Christmas is the time where you scatter joy around in as many ways possible. We sing it, shout it, bake it...roll it into snowmen, and coax other adults to snowball-fight it. We play outside until our ears tingle, then come in to curl up by fires with hot, steaming cups of cocoa or coffee or any number of magical winter elixirs; we feel warm, and safe, and very, very alive.

Mmmm. Just thinking about it makes me feel all cozy. But I suppose I'm still talking about winter, here, and not so much Christmas. I have much to say about Christmas. But we've got time. Four weeks and a day, to be precise. Man, I've got a lot of sewing to do before then....cookies and cheesecakes to bake...carols to sing...parties to attend...

And I love every minute of it.