Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Wednesday before Christmas

Being a frequent traveler, I know how hard it is to get to a place in a timely way when the weather does not cooperate. I have real compassion for people who want so much to have a hassle free journey this holiday season. The weather is not cooperating.

Yes, others have it worse than what we have here. Snowstorms, downpours, heavy fogs -- those are tougher to navigate than our misty skies and our occasional heavy rains. Still, it is a very strange world out there this 23rd of December.

On the upside, it is so pleasantly warm!

I let the cheepers out, giving them some leftover corn as a special treat. Poor Scotch, our molting hen -- she is definitely not at her loveliest!


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A look toward the farmhouse on this misty morning...


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Ed and I have breakfast in the front room, but it could be any room, because honestly, the views everywhere are toward a gray and brown landscape.


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And now I have my big grocery shopping to do and I have two willing helpers -- my daughter and granddaughter -- ready to tag along! This little girl is fresh from her morning bath, delighted to be in the thick of holiday adventures.


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Off we go, on what has to be the busiest grocery shopping day of the month, perhaps the year. And the rains are now coming down hard, but we run for cover and who could mind anyway, since it really is so pleasantly warm!

Alright, let's work through the grocery list. Strawberries? Sure, I'll take one of those.


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There are free samples galore and the little girl tastes many, many types of cheeses. Good! Let her palate develop!


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(Ah, how well I know that stamp of parmiggiano authenticity! At least 24 months... the clerk tells me. I nod my head with approval.)


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Snowdrop has an eye out toward other children and toward smiling people in general and she makes more than one friend along the way. Plus, she finds a penguin...


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And her mom finds a Santa hat.


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It is a happy shopping expedition!


The afternoon. Again I am with Snowdrop. Such concentrated play!


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(And yes, that push to discover comes with its twists and bumps. I'd say the nose scab is healing quickly, no?)


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The winds are howling tonight. The temperature has climbed into the mid fifties. The rain comes and goes. I'm sure many will remember this year's Christmas as the time when winter took a long hard pause. Me, I'll remember it as the time of my little ones -- with the addition of the littlest of them all.

Merry holidays indeed!