Pam – Page 91 – New England's Narrow Road

No New England White Christmas?

kids ice fishing on the lake — Ice Fishing Mid-Winter

It’s the Sunday before Christmas – December 23rd – and have splotches of snow on the ground in my area of southeastern New Hampshire.

My daughter came to visit from Manchester – to the east – and said, “you guys have a lot of snow over here”. So that tells you how little snow there is. Our ground is not even covered, but rumor has it (per the weatherman) that we might get some snow Christmas morning.

So although it appears that most of the northeast is currently brown and not white, that may change just in the nick of time.

Until last year, we always had plenty of snow for the holidays it seemed. This cold season has so far brought more snow, turning to rain, and ending up as slush, which is gross. My son and I shoveled that slushy stuff off the driveway and it was not fun. Leaving it there meant I could be stranded once it froze over. As it is, I have to put on my LLBean ice cleats (stabilicers) to go out and fill the bird feeders. My backyard is packed frozen snow which is like walking on ice. By the way those stabilicers are an excellent investment for around $20 and work great.

So I wish you a wonderful Christmas – white or not. Enjoy your blessings – we can all find many things to be thankful for.

Increasing Chances for a White Christmas in Arkansas (arkansasmatters.com)
A white Christmas Eve may be in the works (mlive.com)
Metro Vancouver may still have a white Christmas, but likely a fleeting one (canada.com)
Most of Vermont snowy, brown areas might turn white. (blogs.burlingtonfreepress.com)

Catching the Winter Sunrise

winter trees and sunrise — Winter Sunrise

Some of the most beautiful moments of my days happened when sitting at the bus stop early in the morning on winter days. To enjoy seeing the sun coming up, I’d have to leave the house where too many trees kept me from seeing anything except a glimpse of orange far off. But at the bus stop, near the wide open area of the lake, it was sometimes a spectacular view.

Sometimes I’d bring my camera and take a walk after my son got off to school. That is just one wonderful advantage of working at home. Having the ability to work my own hours means enjoying the best parts of the day if I choose. Yes, I am lucky.

Now I don’t live near the lake and I never see a sunrise – except the occasional bright color way off through the neighbor’s trees. I always think about how beautiful it must be to live on a hill. If you live on a hill, I hope you take time to enjoy that beauty.

The woods are something I can enjoy. Whenever I walk in the woods I always think of this part of Robert Frost’s poem. It’s the only part I can ever remember. Certainly the thickly wooded areas of woods in the northeast are lovely, dark and deep.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
(Robert Frost)

Life Overload – Making Kaleidoscope Images

design in pink and green — Fun with lilies

It’s all getting to me. The holidays – no tree up yet. The wedding plans – are called off. The lack of sales at my online stores – always happens this time of year. I need to get to the dentist. I need to find a good homeopath. Make a will. Find new health insurance. Write, blog, promote, bake, clean, walk, diet…. and on it goes. Until I just seem to shut down and do nothing.

So I began to play with my Paint program. Usually I will design something when everything else gets tiresome. I lose myself in playtime and usually discover new things while I’m at it.

Such was the case when I began to make kaleidoscope images from some of my photography. I spent all day Sunday doing this. I’d find an image with some good colors and mess with them until they looked good and then enlarge and save.

The round results are designs that I can add to products in my Zazzle stores such as the new wall clocks and dartboards. They may never sell, but it was fun to do. I am now considering some other uses for them as well. If I can get my act together.

A Fake Christmas Tree is Good Enough

cat in the christmas tree — My Cat Loves Christmas!

It is December 8th and we don’t have the fake tree up yet. I’m sure the cat is looking forward to the commotion of setting up the tree. As you can see from the picture, Skittle was such a help while we put the tree together in 2011. It’s an indoor jungle gym for her. I don’t think we will even add decorations this year as she knocked them off one by one last year. Maybe we’ll add just a few unbreakable ones.

This rainy, cold, Saturday would be a good time to do the deed, but my desire is lacking. My teenage son doesn’t want to do much to help, but he likes the atmosphere of Christmas, of course. He says we should have a real tree, but he wants it to magically appear in the house all ready for the presents – those of which will also magically appear Christmas morning. In other words, he gets no joy out of picking out a tree or cutting a tree. Like most kids, he wants the gifts. So I say fake is the way we’ll go, as we have for the past few years.

All the years we lived in Florida we set up real, costly Christmas trees that were mostly dried out from the time we bought them. Continue reading “A Fake Christmas Tree is Good Enough”