Sunday, January 09, 2011

Thoughts on a gray winter day

There's always some work that could be done in a house, some dusting and laundering and putting away of things.  That's what I should be doing, but here I sit, as usual.  The Chiefs are out of the playoffs; I'm just glad they made it as far as they did.
This snow they're forecasting, anywhere from three to eight inches, depending on what station I'm watching, is supposed to start tonight.  Frankly, I wish it was snowing now.  I'm hoping for the full eight inches.  
There's an excitement in watching big, fluffy flakes falling outside my window, wondering how much we'll end up with, checking to see if it's still coming down.  I love to walk outside in the snow; there's such a pure, bright silence about it.  It's fun seeing all the fresh tracks left in new snow by wildlife, back in the woods.  
The goldfinches are starting to hit the feeders pretty regularly; as recently as two days ago I saw a couple of my bluebirds still hanging around.  They like to flit around their old homestead, the bluebird house where they were hatched.  Often one of them will be perched on top of it.
I spend lots of time looking out my window across the pasture.  Many people have expressed something akin to shock when they find out I chose to move from a two-story house into a trailer house.  One of the main reasons for the move was that I literally hungered for a view, a place where I could look out my window and see something besides a neighbor's clutter.  After the rental trailer was hauled away, the old house did gain somewhat of a view to the east.  Here, though, sitting at my computer desk, I can look out and see clear to the other side of the Missouri River.  That does something for my soul that I can't explain.  It restores me, in some way.    
I have the winter doldrums, and I'm not alone.  I can sense it all across blog-land.  People have less to say now; we're all "hunkered down" awaiting the next wintry blast, and the next.  Inspiration fails us at times, and yet every once in awhile someone seizes a spark of inspiration and strings a set of words together that takes my breath away; I'm thankful for this little window on the world that is the Internet.  
These are just ordinary people, not super-stars or newsmen or politicians or famous journalists.  People just like me, telling about their day-to-day activities:  feeding turtles, baking biscuits, going to work, raising their children, enjoying their grandchildren.  These are people I can relate to.  
Then there are those of you who don't have your own blogs, but you leave comments here.  Often you'll answer questions I throw out, or give suggestions.  Sometimes you simply give me your stamp of approval, your little "amen" to something I've said here.  We swap recipes and news stories and talk about the good old days.  
We're neighbors in a way I would never have dreamed of, back before the Internet.    

13 comments:

  1. Amen! *giggle*

    we'd really be bored in the winter without our computers! (well maybe not really but it sounds good)

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  2. We are expecting snow and a wintery mix tonight and tomorrow here in the south. The Eastern Bluebirds here have been eating the peanut butter suet the last few days. No bugs or worms for them to eat in the winter and they don't eat seeds. Carolina Wrens have also plus the small Woodpeckers.
    The Blackbirds are swarming in. I have been scaring them away shooting small firecrackers LOL.

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  3. I feel the exact same way about my internet buddies! I consider you one of them. lol

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  4. It is great to have neighbor nearby...right at the tips of our fingers. I hear more from my blogger friends than I do from my actual neighbors anyway. Computers are a wonderful thing. I enjoyed the goldfinches at the camper last summer. One of my sons had given me a seed sack that they just loved. I guess I'll have to buy more of them so I'm ready for them here at my house. At home I don't really have a good place to hang one so I'll have to work on that. It'll be a while before I'm back at the camper. Mid April seems far away right now.

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  5. I feel like I've been blogging more since this whole cancer thing. I need the connection and the venting more, I suppose. It's gray here too with predictions of 0-10 inches of snow in mid-week when we have tons of things going on. (like Ashley trying to get back to NYC) No stress.

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  6. I'm with you on the snow starting -- and the full 10 inches coming down on the city. It would be nice to just cocoon inside, warm with good food to eat and a life that could just "stop" for a bit and let us all rest. Then, of course, I think of those people who are homeless or without heat / electricity in their homes and I'm less sanquine about the weather reports. Still . . . a day off from school would be sweet, especially since I'm taking one tomorrow anyway to try and get all of Hubby's meds straightened out -- and I'll be absent on Tuesday, too, since we have major doctor appointments to take care of. The winter doldrums do set in after Christmas, for sure.

    Thanks, too, for your kind notes. I appreciate them greatly. M.

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  7. I do love the snow when it first starts, because it is so beautiful! After it lays there a few days I want it to go away. We are getting sleet at the moment! I understand what you are talking about when you refer to your view! Sounds heavenly! Stay warm!

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  8. You feel more like a neighbor to me than my neighbors do Donna. I hope you never tire of writing. I learn from you.

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  9. Lindie9:05 PM

    I am headed home tomorrow so am hoping for less snow for my daughter to drive through to pick me up at the airport. Will be missing these 70 degree days!

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  10. I loved the comment you made about INSPIRATION. I know just what you're talking about. Words and windows looking outside can do a soul good. And the internet ain't bad either.

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  11. I love the idea of internet friends as neighbors. That's a great way to define the feeling I have when I sit down to catch up on my blog reading - like I'm visiting with a favorite neighbor. =)

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  12. I too, love the anticipation of the snow! We're seeing a few flurries here in central Oklahoma, but doesn't look like it will accumulate to much of anything. But I love watching it fall, as it seems to muffle the noisy world.
    I also *totally* hear you on the longing for "a view". I can't see the sky much from inside my house because of the way my house is designed, along with trees and other structures around us. And it makes me crazy sometimes! I love looking at the sky and the horizon! I love taking road trips to rural areas of OK just to look out at the landscrape and the wide open spaces. One of these days I'll get my view! Thanks!
    (PS -was directed to you from a coment on PW's blog!)

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  13. I'm happy to have you as my internet neighbor. I like you a hell of alot more than my real neighbors! (I know my nighbors think *I'm* the weird one, but whatever....heh...)

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