The view from the islands

Washing on the line;

Swans and icicles;

A man paddling out to ’sea’ in the cold;

Retreating snow;

Smooth glass and crockery collected from the beach;

big boots

There is no sign of spring, the snow and ice are still packed high and the trees are still black silhouettes. The chipmunks are still asleep, under the ground I think. I saw a display at the science museum, in Boston, and showed all these little creatures sleeping in burrows under the ground. The way I remember it, which is quite likely embellished, there were snakes and frogs and all sorts of things buried under the ground like bulbs waiting for spring. Quite scary when you see how deep the ice and snow are in the park. How do they breathe in winter? I can see how winter was seen as the grand death in the olden days.

February is over though, with its extra (un-paid) day. I’m HAPPY to see March and to start thinking about seeds to buy for the window box and to remember how trees have green leaves and to start to anticipate things coming alive again, skinny and skulking out of their hiding places. Soon, I won’t need these boots.

yellow

This Lion here feels that winter is about as fun as a poke in the eye with an icicle. He also hates his snowy fringe (or bangs as the ‘mericans say) and wishes someone would brush him off.

It had been deadly cold and the snow keeps coming. I still stop to see the shapes of the snowflakes on my scarf when I am outside and I enjoy walking to work and saying ‘hi’ to the people out and about early in the morning, especially the old Irish punk with his cane and grey dog.

I am thinking about being warm though, and the colours that come back in summer. Winter is all white, grey, and black. Yellow is the colour of the month inside. YELLOW! It makes going to the Goodwill store easier if you just search for a colour. Here is my new yellow top, and the start of a yellow quilt for our bed. I wanted a quilt that I wouldn’t have to sew up much but could spend lots of time decorating and quilting – I love these ones.

A fresh year

Our holiday to Montreal was a beautiful start to 2008. I got time to write letters and postcards on the train trip there (we’ll see how long it takes me to actually mail them),  while watching the expanse of snowy fields with lonely houses speed by outside the window.

It is nice to start the year with firsts – I saw my first ever woodpecker, cross-country skied for the first time (which resulted in face-first crashes into snow, tangled skis and limbs as soon as we worked out how to get them on our feet), and was the coldest I have ever been in my life (-24).

I also ate at my first french restaurant. So I have a nice holiday to remember as I wake up three hours earlier than usual to start back at work!

I have lots of good plans and hopes for this year and am going to try to fit them in around working and organising the last stages of my thesis. I’ve written them all down in a list with little tick boxes because I just like doing things like that. I’ll have to look back at the list I made at new year last year…

Winter Storm

We had a snow storm today, with thunder and lightening and winds blowing huge flakes around. I spent the morning lying in bed watching it all fall outside our window, lunch time building a snow cave and pouring boiling maple syrup onto the snow to eat, and the afternoon flying down the big basin in the park using a plastic bag, and sometimes Mark’s back. I have some big snow boots now so my feet were toasty warm. I got icicle dreads in my hair, and a face full of snow, but tobogganing is so fun! The photos are a bit fuzzy but you can see how much snow there was outside our bedroom door.

We have our tree up now too. It is a little bit of a Charlie Brown one, but smells lovely and Christmasy.

I think (touch wood) we might have a white Christmas!