Posts Tagged: winter

iPPP / Uncategorized — 6 Comments
18
Jan 12

Musing on yellow. And breaking the law

 

I broke the law for this week’s iPPP shot.

Out taking a break from work, I saw this building.

And since my phone has terrible zoom-in feature, I zoomed myself in.

Tromp, tromp, tromp.

This was probably a trespass.

Okay, not probably, it was.

And then I saw something that made the darker, more daring, law-breaker at the heart of my soul walk further down.

 

 

Yes, I couldn’t help but be pulled further into the danger zone…trespassing away.

Me and Tebow so out in the open — we would totally be dead by now in the Hunger Games. Hoovered-up in the hovercraft.

 

 

There. That’s more like it.

 

Perfection.

Can you believe it on January 18?

I captured Yellow.

It there any yellow out where you live?

 

iPhone Photo Phun

 

beach — 7 Comments
9
Jan 12

Musing on the Beach in January? Heck, yeah.

The last decade or so, the second weekend in January has found me at the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend.

This year, we had an opportunity to stay in a house at Seaside.

So run at Disney?

Run at the beach?

We ran to the beach.

And I’ve learned some important things about the beach in January.

* You can walk on the beach in a sweatshirt and people don’t think it odd.

 

 

Yes. You can cover up and have no worries about unsightly white body scaring beach goers. Not many folks to frighten anyway. In the summer I usually don’t have lipstick on. Was this pathetic attempt to find guy who would buy me drinks?

No silly, I brought one of those along with me on the trip. I probably couldn’t find a Chapstick.

* Something about being at the beach in January brought out all my board-gaming skills. Either that or my husband is a horrid player.

 

 

Yes, I cleaned up in Monopoly and Sorry.

He tried to teach me how to play Poker but I didn’t want to think that hard.

* You can just sit in the middle of the day. It’s okay.

Stare at a screen door for hours and no one’s going to be asking you to take them to the pool or rub lotion on their back. Or come knocking on the door with a spiral notebook and pencil flashing a badge wondering why you aren’t adding to the GNP.

 

 

*  My normally very reserved husband got wild and crazy. He dined on sushi and started running again.

*  You can run. In January, you can take off in the middle of the day and it’s not 90 degrees, 90 percent humidity hot. It’s perfect.

The one thing that wasn’t perfect was that we had to leave.

After debating staying the month, my husband suggested that some neighbor might call DFCS.

And I did miss those wee and not-so-wee faces.

So we left.

The beach in January?

What do you think?

The garden — No Comments
3
Jan 12

Frozen Broccoli. Musing on the heartbreak of farming.

26 degrees.

That’s what the car thermometer read when I darted out this morning to be at the gym at six.

An hour later after working out, sunlight bled through black tree outlines on the way home.

Still 26 degrees.

I needed to check my broccoli. Armed with a knife, I headed out.

It looked okay.

 

Then I cut the stalk.

Frozen. All the way through.

How does that happen in just six hours? For pity’s sake. What to do?

Last year, we had killer ice and any broccoli I tried to eat after that was mealy. You don’t want mealy broccoli. You want tall, green, firm crunchy stalks with tight, flowery heads. (I’m into broccoli.)

I quickly gathered my wits along with a few grocery bags and began hacking away at the largest heads.

 

Rather like surgery without the blood.

And tried to bag as much as I could and stick in the freezer.

 

Rather like Dexter. Without the blood.

Kept thinking about those poor orange growers I remember from growing up in Central Florida. When the temperatures dipped below freezing just for a few hours, entire crops could be ruined. They’d be out lighting pots in the dead of pitch and cold saving their trees.

I should have been out in the howling wind last night throwing a blanket or two on my babies.

Ugh.

Better stop blogging and head back out to save a few more for the freezer.

Why, oh why is this the lot of farm life?

 

Columns / Latest Newspaper Column — 1 Comment
24
Jan 11

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It’s Off to the Primary School I Go.

Though not an attractive habit to admit, I’ve always chewed ice. I love ice neatly lining my freezer’s compartment or crushed ice nestling to the brim of a 64 ounce cup.       

Ice coating everything else in creation is another matter entirely. Until last week, I never stopped to consider what it would be like to step through C. S. Lewis’ Wardrobe’s door. Honestly, a few mornings I walked outside and strained to see Aslan’s furry mane bounding to the rescue. Continue reading →

Change / Georgia / God Found in the Everyday / South — 2 Comments
12
Jan 11

Musing on ice.

I’ve been away for awhile. 

We traveled to Florida for the Disney Marathon Weekend. On Sunday afternoon here I was with some Madison friends. 

Hubs and me with the Sitzmann clan.

Kim and Dennis both ran the half too. Here we were Sunday afternoon…and while we were in sunny Central Florida we started hearing about the bad weather soon to hit Madison. 

We talked with a couple on a ride who were from Atlanta, down for the race. They were not going to try and come back as planned on Monday. 

We decided after seeing pictures from Atlanta Sunday night that we too would stay in Central Florida another day. Then rising Monday morning — hubby decided to go. So I as most dutiful bride packed and we went. The Sitzmanns headed back too. 

We texted occasionally about road conditions and other news. 

Everything was pretty good till 129 out of Gray. 441 from Eatonton was worse. 

Fun.

It was amazing how fast the conditions changed. One moment you’re fine. The next you’re thinking — okay — just a few miles more. 

A few miles can seem like an awful lot longer. When you’re creeping along hoping not to end up in a ditch. 

It’s funny. Wonder how many times we’re riding along in ice and ditches along side and not even know it. 

I really don’t want to think about it.