The days have been gray and cold. It was a good day for a pot of lentil soup. I made bread to go with it.
We got four more inches of snow last night. There's probably a foot of it on the ground. It falls fluffy and high, but it begins to settle and to compact before the next snow falls, so it seems to stay about the same height.
The thing that I noticed though is how bright it is at night. The snow reflects all the light. Streetlights, house lights, car lights. And I think the line from the Night Before Christmas: "the moon on the breast of the new fallen snow gave the luster of midday to objects below."
I guess that's my happy thing.
Late Edit: The picture is actually a watercolor by Ray Hendershot. It is called 'Working Late'. Ray Hendershot lives on the eastern side of Pennsylvania and paints the rural landscape there. The eastern side of the state is the 'old settlement' side of the state. It is where you will see the old stone buildings and barns. It is much flatter there and very picturesque.
Snow and moonlight were made for each other.
ReplyDeleteI would not disagree with that. Do you still have snow there?
DeleteWhat a picture. You should print that photo and frame it Debby. It's gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteI just put the picture up because it so perfectly captured what I meant. Ray Hendershot is a Pennsylvania artist, and that painting is called 'Working Late'. I imagine that the eastern side of the state would likely remind you of your own neck of the woods, Dave...the stone houses and old fields. The original settlers were from Germany though, and you see that in a lot of the town names.
DeleteStay safe with all that snow.
ReplyDeleteI know the US is big..but fire one side and ice the other....
I know. The irony is not lost on me. I am so everlastingly tired of hearing stars interviewed for all that they have lost. Saddest to me are the people who are not stars, not rich. They have lost more than the stars ever will, simply because they are not millionaires. Replacing what they have lost will be a far bigger job for them.
DeleteWow. It is a great photo.
ReplyDeleteIt's a painting. I was remiss. I have put in a late edit providing some artist information. You can buy the print for $11 on Amazon.
DeleteYour description of the snowy night and how the light reflects off the snow is so beautiful—it's amazing how nature can create such peaceful moments. The snow really does transform everything, even the night. I just shared a new post; let me know what you think. Have a lovely weekend ahead!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Melody. You know, I have to say that your blog is interesting and has provided me fodder for thought, I will say that I'm a little shocked by the Henrico/Strotman case. I had not heard the racial component of it before, and you know, I did not doubt it for an instant. We live in a place where horrible racism does play out before our very eyes and is 'whitewashed' or ignored. I'm sorry for that. But your claim that the babies were all black is incorrect and based on social media alone. The babies were all boys, and they were of all ethnicities. We don't know the extent of this, and I agree that the hospital behaved very stupidly to try to dismiss early cases as occurring as the result of a baby being given an injection. My god. Even that needed further looking into. A nurse who cannot give an injection without breaking a bone needs to be removed from her duties and, at the very least, retrained before being allowed to continue. That alone would have made Strotman aware that she was being watched closely. She should not have been permitted to work with any population who could not speak for themselves.
DeleteMy happy yesterday was when my snow shoveller showed up at about 11 am. I had just found out that my two neighbours had switched to a different company this year. They had their snow removed at 6.oo am. My guy is lazy and lives about 50 miles north of here and this year he just hired a very nice young man to do my snow. Last year we got next to no snow and this year this was only a couple of inches. I only care that he brushes off my car and shovels enough around my car so that I can get it out to the street. I am very thankful that he showed up and did a good job. I also noticed that my bedroom was very light the last couple of nights as I don’t have window coverings, they are awkward and open inwards. The little bit of snow really magnified the light, so beautiful. Love to hear about your new build and hope you will be able to move in when the weather is better. Gigi
ReplyDeleteOur driveway has been shoveled more times this winter than it has in the previous three, maybe four, combined.
DeleteWe must be aware of our "happy things". I have been doing this myself so that I can endure the next 4 years.
ReplyDeleteYou know, recently, someone who has always impressed me with his inner peace was mentioning that he really felt like he needed to back away, to set boundaries in these awful days. It surprised me to hear that. I suggested that maybe that urge need to be ignored, that perhaps we need to force ourselves to gather like minds together, to be part of a group, because in the next four years, all of us will have those moments where faith and hope are lost, that light sputters and dims. If we know 'our people', we can continue on with someone else's light until our own spark is stronger.
DeleteFor many years, we would spend some time in winter at the rural cottage. I noticed then how much the snow would brighten the night landscape.
ReplyDeleteThat 'glow' seems almost magical to me.
DeleteMy grandsons came over to use the sleds on a small hill near my home. Their happy faces and laughter brought back lots of sweet memories of my own kids sledding on those hills.
ReplyDeleteI love that glowing time of night when the snow shines.
My grandson is too old for such childish pleasure. I miss that. My granddaughters are on the other side of the state, ironically, the part of the state where you see the stone houses as depicted in the painting. Snow is not so common there, but they have it now, I think.
DeleteI do remember the quiet grace of the light reflected from the snow from when I lived for a short while in Denver. Yes.
ReplyDeleteTucked up cozy in bed looking at it through a bedroom window is a bit of a 'moment'.
DeleteThat painting has caught the cold light of snow and moon beautifully. I am thinking about my happy moment of today. I think it is messages from Matilda who has said don't worry about knitting those black gloves granny. Thank god for that ;)
ReplyDeleteWill I ever remember? That is me Thelma
ReplyDeleteAs soon as you mentioned Matilda, I knew exactly who you were!
DeleteThat's a great painting!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed looking through some of his other paintings. He really captures 'old' Pennsylvania so well. Some of his paintings remind me of Andrew Wyeth.
DeleteI meant to say, like Wyeth, Hendershot paints 'time'.
DeleteBeautiful painting to accompany the words!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it just perfect? I was so captivated by the scene outside my window that I actually got up to write this blog post to commemorate the moment. This picture seemed to illustrate it what I was seeing perfectly.
DeleteGood soup, good bread and an interesting show out of the windows - sound wonderful.
ReplyDeleteExcept for the part where none of this would be happening if I wasn't freezing to death.
DeleteLove that painting! And lentil soup is something we always have in the freezer.. just made another big batch the other day! We even got an inch of snow yesterday.. but it’s almost gone now😳I’m not quite ready for spring yet, can you tell?😅But when spring does come, I love it- my favorite season! Xo, Rigmor
ReplyDeleteWell, sistah, you need to heist your hinder here. I give you a week and you'll be running for home and ready for spring.
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