Friday, November 30, 2012

late fall

Things are still pretty mild here by the marsh.
While the delay is welcome, I am ready now.
Ready for what the winter has to bring.

This process, this being 'ready' is part practical and part emotional. Even if the house and garden and cars and such are all tucked in and prepared for the season to change, I still need to feel ready.
I am not sure yet, even now in my own autumn, what actually changes to ready me for the dark and cold of winter. I just know it when it comes.
There is no obvious connection to temperature, length of the day, day of the month --nothing I can quite put my finger on.

Its a struggle before this readiness sets in. My body bristles. I snarl against the chill. I am somewhat anxious.
Then...it just happens. And its all ok. And winter can come.

Don't get me wrong. I do not like winter. I am a warm weather person. My people are short, dark, round island people. We like to swelter.

This readiness is simply acceptance.
I like to think of winter as a healing time. A time to come inside and nurture the soul. Let the dark be a snugly cloak - not a dagger. The early evenings force me to sit by the fire. To read. To relinquish to stillness.

Summer is for boisterous entertaining, sparkly drinks and dancing in the moonlight.
Winter brings long, slow, warm chats with friends over heavy wine and sugary treats.
While Spring may be the time to fall in love, winter can be a time to revel in it.

I can't complain about a season that allows me respite to regain my strength for the rollicking I simply must do once the sun returns to its highest point.

Cheers.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

weese unplugged

I've been threatening to do this for years.

About two months ago I called our local cable provider and gently broke the news.

No really... its not you - its me. I just don't feel the same about you anymore.

They were sad. But I had to move on.

Honestly I barely notice the difference. Between the two services H ul u and the Net flicks - its almost too much TV to watch.

But my son was not satisfied when he came to visit on Sundays this fall.
So I took the final step.



And there it is. In full Hi Definition living color.
FREE television. We watched football all day - jitter free, gorgeous picture, no cable.

(I have not had time to properly install the antenna yet. It's just propped up and bungee corded to a fence post - we get all three major networks and PBS - as well as about 20 foriegn language channels.. who needs Rosetta Stone)


Friday, November 02, 2012

a golden opportunity

It's been a busy week here by the marsh.

It started over the weekend with storm preparation.

First I extended all the gutter downspouts far from the foundation and lashed them down, then we put all the lawn furniture and potted plants into the garage. Tucked the extra propane tank in there as well. Certain we would need that if the power went out.

With all the extra stuff going into the garage it was time to do some re-arranging. So I pulled out my 7foot step ladder and started to lay some boards across the ceiling joists. This way I could eek out a little extra storage space up above.

This idea was working swimmingly. As I got up higher on the ladder to view the boards from above I noticed that for some odd reason my ladder had twisted and one foot was off the ground.
hmm.
I guess I must not have set it solidly.
No worries, I was high enough to take my weight off the ladder by leaning onto a joist. This way I could reset the ladder with my feet.
Seemed reasonable enough.
Gravity had other plans, taking the ladder from beneath me.
Now... 20 years ago I would have been able to lower myself down gently off the joist.
Not so much now. I slid off that thing like a fish on a playground slide.

Luckily my sometimes-overly-concerned wife was not at home at the time. This gave me plenty of time to lie quietly on the cement garage floor and consider my options.
After I was fairly certain my leg was not broken, I managed to get up and hobble around to finish storm preparations.
I managed to get everything tucked away in the garage, including the cars - and locking it up tight against the weather, even with a limp.
I was pleased - albeit achy.
Time for wine.

The storm hit us pretty hard here by the marsh, being only 3 blocks from the Sound. Remarkably we had power until a large tree hit a pole down the street sometime just before dark.

It wasn't until the power actually went out that I gazed out the back window at the crazy storm -- all our stuff safely stowed in our new garage... and slowly it dawned on me.
Safely stowed... locked in the garage...

I have never locked that back garage door before.
Not once.

Which is why the keys for that door hang neatly on a nail - just inside....the garage.

Go ahead... open season. My adorable wife has been having good fun with this for days.