First we survive, then we thrive!

The ground is frozen. The driveway is icy. The local weather forecast is for a little snow, then mostly rain tonight and tomorrow, fog during much of tomorrow. Will the rain drain onto the sandplain before the temperature drop causes everything to freeze? We'll see.

We didn't (and still don't) much like bitter cold and multi-inch snowfalls that occurred regularly in Minnesota Winters past. We think, but aren't sure, that snow and cold are preferable to Winter rain storms and freezing rain. Global warming / climate disruption strikes home these days. We recall noticing a decade or two ago that freezing rain seemed to occur more frequently down around Rochester, MN, which is slightly more than 100 miles South of here. Now it seems we're often at the edge of the snow / rain line. Shoveling and blowing and plowing snow is a pain. We're still trying to figure out if there's a way to successfully cope with rain that's followed by freezing. Plus, for those of us negatively affected by Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday of the week upcoming are forecast to be "mostly cloudy." Sigh! Just what we need when Christmas has just been packed up for another year.

signs of Christmas past, Dayton House, Worthington, MN

Photo by J. Harrington

Fortunately, The Better Half is making chili for tonight. We're going to start playing with a new version of sourdough artisan bread this week. We just fed the starter a little while ago. We have stacks and stacks and stacks of unread books ("tsundoku" - the act or art of acquiring more books than one will ever actually read, such that they gather in stacks & flocks on shelves and floors) and it's time to get organized for this year's taxes. Well, three out of four isn't bad! Our frustration with the rain and subsequent ice is we've realized we need to get out more and ice-covered roads, sidewalks and pathways are a major hindrance to mobility. This all probably should get filed under first, survival, then thriving, which will soon include making plans for planting come Spring.

more hoarfrost than we saw today

Photo by J. Harrington

There were lots of hawks perched in treetops and on road light stanchions today. Local trees, bushes, reeds and rushes were covered with frost-hoarfrost. Somewhere in Northern Washington county there's enough open water to support a very large couple of flocks of Canada geese and some swans. Once the weather and the roads settle down, we may need to go exploring and see if we can find their hangout. We are completely unsure if overWintering geese and swans are signs of a disrupted climate. We suspect that, for now, the answer may well be "it depends!"

1 January 1965

By Joseph Brodsky

Translated by George L. Kline

The Wise Men will unlearn your name.

Above your head no star will flame.

One weary sound will be the same—

the hoarse roar of the gale.

The shadows fall from your tired eyes

as your lone bedside candle dies,

for here the calendar breeds nights

till stores of candles fail.

What prompts this melancholy key?

A long familiar melody.

It sounds again. So let it be.

Let it sound from this night.

Let it sound in my hour of  death—

as gratefulness of eyes and lips

for that which sometimes makes us lift

our gaze to the far sky.

You glare in silence at the wall.

Your stocking gapes: no gifts at all.

It's clear that you are now too old

to trust in good Saint Nick;

that it's too late for miracles.

—But suddenly, lifting your eyes

to heaven's light, you realize:

your lifeis a sheer gift.

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