Hangin’ in there

Thanks to the efforts of the Better Half and a local florist, we have a few sprigs of holly decorating the living room. I continue an internal debate about the pros and cons of cloudy skies, but above seasonal temperatures and little snow, versus cold, blue, sunny skies and inches upon inches of snow. The current situation [chilly, cloudy, little snow] has a very slight lead in the early voting. Sunny, chilly, just enough snow to look seasonal would be a nice compromise.

a too typical December sky

Photo by J. Harrington

According to the record keepers, November and December are our cloudiest months. That suggests, in addition to Christmas music, we should add Paul Simon’s Cloudy to our December playlist. The short days, long nights and cloudiness reinforce the need for candles, greenery, and celebrations to help us traverse this time of year. On the brighter side, two weeks from today day’s length will be almost a second longer than on the solstice. At least we’ll be headed in a better direction then.

Until then, I need to shake my shack nasties, get Christmas shopping finished, and start getting organized for next year. Better days are ahead, just ask Annie.

Snow-Flakes

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow     1807 – 1882

Out of the bosom of the Air,
    Out of the cloud-folds of her garments shaken,
Over the woodlands brown and bare,
    Over the harvest-fields forsaken,
      Silent, and soft, and slow
      Descends the snow.

Even as our cloudy fancies take
    Suddenly shape in some divine expression,
Even as the troubled heart doth make
In the white countenance confession,
      The troubled sky reveals
      The grief it feels.

This is the poem of the air,
    Slowly in silent syllables recorded;
This is the secret of despair,
    Long in its cloudy bosom hoarded,
      Now whispered and revealed
      To wood and field.

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