What a surprise - it's snowing.

“I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape - the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn't show.” Andrew Wyethe

“Sometimes our fate resembles a fruit tree in winter. Who would think that those branches would turn green again and blossom, but we hope it, we know it.” Goethe

The Morning After The Storm

We're in a strange little pocket of calm in the midst of Nature's fury. All around us are reports of highways closed, more than a foot of snow, power lines sizzling across the roads. Here, at the foot of the Catskills, we've got fluffy, gentle little flakes that melt before they can accumulate.




It's been a record-breaker, this series of late February storms. Over a hundred thousand people in two counties have been without power for three days...many of them got their power back briefly, only to have it knocked out in the latest storm.
And there's another on the way.

The winds howled here last night but the lines held. The sky is still that bright pewter gray that promises more snow is a possibility, but it's not that dark, glowering gray that threatens a blizzard.

My guy told me when he was working late in his studio, the winds were howling so loudly that he gave up trying to muffle the noise as he was recording - he just sang right over them. That should create some interesting effects.

I'm hoping the snow holds off so we can go tour the area...there's one neighborhood in particular that turns into a riverfront community after heavy rains. Water pours off the mountain into a pipe which dumps all the water in their front yards and covers their driveways. It's quite a sight. I wonder if they have rafts for such occasions.

Spring's almost here, right?

A New Year and a New Decade

My love tells me there's a blue moon on New Year's Eve. How appropriate.
This is a big time; a new decade, the decade in which I'll turn sixty (not to assume anything, but...), a decade in which both of my children will reach their thirties.
Incredible.



We had a picture perfect day just a few days before the screaming cold came roaring in. I took a walk and tried to capture this place. There was the golden angel atop the gift shop, the clouds skating across the mountains, a lovely mix of religions and season.








I do love this town, silly old hippie haven and overpriced city chic spot though it is. Around every corner there's something just incredibly lovely...




or tremendously silly.



I got to spend the holidays with my favorite people...KB (who would far prefer I never, ever put his picture here) and my kids (who may think this picture is okay as it's dark and silly) - it wasn't exactly like the Cratchett's, but it was us and we were together.




So ends 2009...so ends the 2000s. I'm not usually one for resolutions, but I think this may be the year for it.

I am going to appreciate what I have. I spend far too much time worrying about what I might lose or what I can't have. But I have everything. And no matter if I live in this house, if I live somewhere else, if my life changes utterly or stays just as it is, it will be enough.

I will remember what matters. It's way too easy to get bogged down, especially when there is a world of things to worry about and you've got a genetic tendency to worry. But I do know what matters. People matter. Relationships matter. Feeling good about myself and my life matters.

I will take better care of myself. I'm currently cutting out sugar completely - not forever, but long enough to remind myself how much better I feel when I eat well. I'll continue to exercise, thought it's a struggle when the wind is howling and I just don't feel like it. I will remember that what I need matters, too.

I will trust the universe. I work way too hard trying to make everything alright for everybody. I'm going to stop trying to rule the world - even a benevolent dictator is, after all, a dictator.

I'm going to try to relax and let my own world run itself a bit more. I doubt I'll be able to ignore the problems I see all around me, I doubt I'll stop preaching from my progressive soapbox, but I'm going to remember that everyone, no matter who, is always more likely to do well when you trust in their basic humanity.