The return of winter

Well, it has been a gorgeous five days of weather in the 50s/60s...but now we are returning to normal. Outside, the sun is shining and pointing out how black the snow/rain clouds are just to the north. I haven't gone outside to see what got blown around in the yard yet--we had 60mph winds last night and we're supposed to have 30mph gusts all day today.

I like the little winter breaks because it reminds me that spring is on the way and that I am excited for sunshine and flowers again.

Ok...off to attend to the scattered yard...

The creeps...

Sometimes I like things that creep me out. But only when I am totally sure I may change the channel or close the book and sleep with my light on do I allow myself access to the things that go bump in the night.

I am a chicken [yes, I freely admit it.] I slept with all the lights on in my apartment for a week after I saw The Blair Witch Project. I haven't walked over a storm drain since I was 14--courtesy of the Stephen King novel It. Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 4 Episode 10 "Hush" freaked me out a bit more than I would have liked--the Gentlemen...creepy!

And, now on Neil Gaiman's site I find a trailer for Coraline. Some of the trailers are cute and some are a bit eerie, but the trailer he is in begins the chilly thrills....

I'll admit I'm a Gaiman junkie...I adore his work. He makes me think in directions I would never have before considered. That impresses me.

Late last year I listened to his book tour for The Graveyard Book in which he read a different chapter at each stop. I opened a tab and let it play while futzing around on the Internet. Each chapter is a separate section (roughly 40-50 mins) so listening to a daily chapter is easy. Oh, and it just won the Newberry Medal!

Only the Literary...

Moon Report: 2% of full. waxing crescent.

Notable Passing

Today, John Updike, author of The Witches of Eastwick, died of cancer. There are some lovely pieces at NPR, BBC, and the New York Times.

Blizzard!

Moon Report: 3% of full. waning crescent.


Today is the anniversary of the 1978 blizzard that still holds the snow record here. It started late in the evening of Jan. 24 and continued until Jan. 29. The snow was recorded at 41". The snow itself probably wouldn't have been as ghastly (other than just clearing the roads) if all that snow hadn't come with tons of wind. Some drifts were 15 feet high!

I remember my dad dug a tunnel from our door to the neighbor's across the street so we could share supplies if anyone needed anything.
I remember my dad picked me up and swung me around and let me go sailing into soft snowdrifts.
I remember some houses had drifts up to the roof and the older kids would climb to the roofs with their plastic sheet sleds and slide down.
I remember my dad being home because he couldn't get to work for several days.
I remember a lot of wet mittens and soaked snowsuits and hot cocoa and soup.

The aging process has you firmly in its grasp

if you never get the urge to throw a snowball.

--Doug Larson

I don't chuck snowballs since I got hit and had a nasty bruise on my forehead--I was about ten. I do however love snow angels--which I still make on occasion.

lolcats

Ok. I just thought it was funny.