Taking Shelter in an Angel's Ear

You can't tell by this photo, but there is a ladybug tucked into this angel's ear. It didn't move when I blew on it, but there is a chance that it might wake up again come spring. They do overwinter here underneath piles of leaves and debris.

Saintcicles

Snow-Covered Christ

Peek-a-boo

I didn't know what to title this as it's pretty wretched if you think about it. The weather was so foggy the other day, perfect lighting for photographing things like cemeteries and bare winter trees, so hubby and I drove over to Wisconsin Memorial Park and then Holy Cross so I could wander around in the rain with my camera. Of course I forgot to wear my boots so I ended up trudging through snow with my Keen clogs on - they're the best so no damage to them, just cold, wet feet going through the deeper parts. I got some really nice, atmospheric trees and a few interesting landscapes with lots of crosses and stones. This one I am posting here was probably one of the creepiest, especially since it must mark the grave of someone who was too young to have to die. But here it is. I couldn't just leave it there in the snow - poor child.

Seaweed on the beach at Kalaloch, WA

Mailboxes again, view 2

Mail Boxes, Fort Worden, WA

Spruce, Fort Worden, WA

Make Art, Not War

Shop window in Port Townsend, WA

Jellyfish, Port Ludlow, WA

Erigeron - Sea Holly, Seattle, WA

Hurricane Ridge, WA - Panorama

Deer At Hurricane Ridge, WA

Port Ludlow, WA

Winter Solstice

This has got to be one of my very favorite days of the year, the shortest day of the year and the beginning of the slow run back into the sun. Every day from here until the summer solstice gets progressively longer, while darkness creeps back. Explaining this to my youngest child, age 8, is a bit difficult, as if this marked the middle of winter instead of just the beginning. Yet here we are, a week before Christmas with 23 inches of snow on the ground (less, actually, as the piles have begun to sink into themselves with recent warmer weather and light rain) and all of winter technically ahead of us. I love this nadir, as there is only one way out - UP!

What I had planned on doing today was painting a line across our back brick path where the shadow of our roof falls on this day of lowest sun angle. Our old sidewalk, before we tore up the cement and replaced it with red pavers, was marked in this way at both the shortest and longest days of the year. Our roofline, which runs east-west, is perpendicular to the sun's rays and casts a shadow directly over our back yard that moves roughly 30 feet north every fall, until today when it sits for a moment and then starts to go back south again towards the house. I haven't yet caught that exact day and time to take down the measurements, so there are no new marks on our brick path to mark these auspicious events. Today, I was ready. I watched the fog stuff itself between the trees early this morning and knew it didn't bode well for my task at hand. I waited patiently and prayed for a break in the clouds, but at high noon the skies were still thick and gray - not a single shadow to be cast.
I could possibly make a small, temporary mark tomorrow at noon, if the skies cooperate, but I wanted it to be today. I guess since the actual equinox is just after midnight tonight I could use tomorrow just as well. We'll see, but if it remains cloudy I guess I'll just have to wait another year and keep watching.

How Christmas Works Around Here

I wanted to share an example of how complex, or simple - depending on how you look at it - the art of gift-giving can be in our family.

My Mom called today and reviewed with me what she was giving each of my children, asking for hints for last minute items. Then she said she didn't have anything for me, yet, but that hopefully my Dad had already taken care of that. I mentioned that I really wanted a jar of Bath and Body Works Sweet Temptations Twisted Peppermint Body Scrub. She begged me wait while she scrambled for a pencil. As she did thus, I googled the item and found out that although it cost $12/jar in the store (which is aggregious anti-Christian spirit of Christmas, up-against-the-wall, they-have-you-right-where-they-want-you pricing as it's only offered in December and then disappears unless you're lucky enough to find some on eBay), it was on sale for 50% off online. Mom comes back to the phone and I tell her this. She gets all excited (this part runs in the family) and tells me to order a couple and she'll pay for them as my gift. I see the sense in this so after I get off the phone I order four jars for $24.00. Then I go to retailmenot.com and check out their coupon codes, scooping up a "spend $30, get $10 off" deal. I flip back to the B&B Works site, add another jar to my order to bring it to $30 exactly, apply the coupon code, and watch $10 fall off my total. With tax and shipping, I just got five jars of the $12 body scrub for $28.51, without ever having to leave my home and brave the obscene mall mobs. Deal!

Called my Mom back to share the good news and she immediately agrees to pay for all five jars. Score! Then I tell her she can just add it onto the monthly check she gives us to help pay for the kids' cell phones. Let's see, that's $40, plus $28.51 comes to $68.51. But wait, I am buying her that sweater that she found for herself at Kohls, so minus out the price of the sweater, and she will write me a check for whatever is left over. I'll pick her check up in a couple days, along with the sweater to wrap and give back to her on Christmas morning. Perfect.

Just Before the Origami Resurrection

Kale - Mitchell Park Domes - 12/7/2007

The Joys of Boys

Ventured into my oldest son's room this morning. Among other disgusting things, I found this bowl and spoon glazed with a dessicated layer of Stonyfield Farm organic, fat-free vanilla yogurt. You could, as you might guess, pick up the bowl by simply lifting the spoon. Yum.