A Few Favourites from 2009

A lovely little guy was born.

Time with Mom and Bro.

A day of fun with the roomies.

Another lovely little guy turned two.

A summer's adventure with friends.

A trip to Niagara Falls with Seg and his family.

Precious Penelope grew up.

Two trips to the Dorset fire tower, one with Mom, one with pals.

A walk to work on a chilly Autumn morning.

A few photos at work.

I Think it Might Have Snowed Last Night.

I awoke this morning at twenty after six, to Seguin standing at the window, making an exclamation I won't repeat here. When I got up and looked out, this is what I saw.
There was something about this unexpected, super blanket of snow that made me want to rush out and snap a few pictures.

When I got outside at around six thirty, it was still snowing, but that hadn't stopped a few of my neighbours from going out to scope out the weather or walk their dogs.

The dogs loved it.

Shortly before eight, the snow stopped and the guys decided to go outside to see if they could get the truck unburied.

A number of others from the building were outside as well, shovelling and joking and trading news and stories about the snow; which roads were open, which weren't, whose vehicles were stuck where, what the weather forcast had to say about it all. Apparently, our mayor was on breakfast television this morning, and has declared a 'snow emergency.' Seems a little dramatic to me, but I haven't tried to drive anywhere, so what do I know?

After a while, a few people started a walk to the main road, to see if it had been plowed or not. I went along to take some more pictures.

This is where I want to be today. Inside. But it sounds like people are already starting to dig out of the mess. The plow has been by and the boys made it into work successfully. I might even make it into work myself by the afternoon. But it's been interesting. There's nothing like a snow day to bring everyone together a bit, be it the common joy at the beauty of it, or the shared drudgery of digging out or just a collective sense of awe at what mother nature can hit us with when she feels like it.

It's Coming, Really!

Today is the first gloomy day all week. The sunshine is gone and I actually see little snow flakes in the air. It could be the dry sand on the visible pavement, the sound of a little kid on a bike, the cool (not cold) air, or maybe just my relentless optimisim, but I still feel spring creeping up on us.
I've been making all kinds of new jewellery in anticipation. Lots of new colours! Keep an eye open; I'll be posting photos soon.

November Morning Thoughts

Winter is pretty much on its way. It's barely, barely snowing; in fact, it's supposed to get up to 11 degrees this weekend or something like that. (When you work in lottery, everyone tells you the weather.) But it's on its way as far as I am concerned. Here are the signs.

1. There is snow on the ground right now. And on people's cars and falling from the sky ever so lightly. It's not much and it won't stay, but the transition has begun.

2. It's dark by 5:30. Completely dark. In grade 6, my brother Eli and I would always watch the Simpsons after school. By the time it was over at 5:30, it was always pitch black out. And that's winter.

3. On Sunday, I made chicken soup and biscuits from scratch. It was delicious, but more importantly, I'm getting the urge for hot, savoury things like soup and hot chocolate and chili more often. Even Fiona's mention of roasting a chicken made me think, 'Mmm. Cozy."

4. I'm not biking to work any more. =(

5. I bought a winter coat. First new one I've had in a while. It's cranberry red and double breasted and falls to mid thigh. I'm excited to have some colour in my winter gear for once.

6. I'm extremely stoked for Xmas. I've been buying people's gifts early this year and everywhere I go I'm thinking of what to do/make/get for people. It's fun, and it's making me very excited for Xmas.

7. I want to be out walking pretty much all the time. In scarves and hats and mittens all rosy cheeked. In the woods especially.

8. Barb is calling on me to make some stuff for the sale up North. Fun!

9. Clementines are showing up in the stores in wooden boxes. Yummy!

10. The light is different. No more bright yellow sun, now it's pale and quiet and almost pure white. Very clean and Wintery.

As Winter's been approaching, I've been thinking of a post I wrote a while ago about the smells of the seasons and how winter doesn't really have any. My friend Devon responded to my note, suggesting that perhaps all of Winter's smells are indoor smells, like hot apple cider and soup simmering on the stove. The more I think it over, the more I've decided she's correct. With the exception of cool, icy pine and that crisp, clean, cold nothing smell of outdoors in Winter, all the Winter smells are indoor smells.

Like she said, soup and cider definitely. The cider smell also makes me think of how my father used to put cinammon sticks and cloves in a pot of water and set it to boil on the woodstove. Mmmmm.

Clementines are distinctly Winter to me. That first potent burst of scent when you break open the rind is very Christmasy. So distinct as well....the other day Eli had a clementine (unbeknownst to me) and then handled the kitten. When I took her back from him, I knew he'd eaten one as I could smell it on her fur.

Wood smoke is a good one. Also that earthy smell firewood gets after you bring it inside and all the snow and ice start to melt off.

Scotch tape is Christmasy (and therefore Wintery) to me as well. When I was younger, the only time I really remember encountering scotch tape was opening gifts on Xmas morning. So the combined smell of scotch tape and wrapping paper does it for sure. Now when I wrap the gifts as well as when I open them.

These are all the smells I can think of for now. Perhaps more will come back to me as Winter progresses. Or maybe you have some of your own you'd like to share?? Please, comment!

The white winter light makes everything so calm and beautiful, my heart aches, just a little bit.

On the Evening Air

There are a many different things that make summer really 'Summer.' And Autumn 'Autumn' and Spring 'Spring.' But biking home today, I decided there is one way in which I really prefer all of them to winter.

Now I'm a multi-season girl. Any time of year, you'll find me content with the seasonal state of my surroundings. Spring is so fresh and sunny and exciting; when I was in public school, I loved that first warm day when everyone could go outside in snow pants and sweatshirts (no need for your coat) and run around on sun dried pavement and make wet snowballs out of slowly melting snow. Summer is great because of how beautiful everything is pretty much all of the time. The nights are warm and the swimming's good and I want to be outdoors every second I can. Autumn leaves me feeling even more invigorated than Spring. Maybe it's that the back-to-school feeling never goes away, but the bright colours and the clear skies and the crips air seem so fresh and alive. And Winter makes me happy too. As I feel it approaching, I look forward to nights spent cozy indoors while the snow flies outside the window. I love skiing and building forts and getting all dressed up in scarves and hats and getting rosy cheeks from the cold. And maybe it's just me, but I feel like the stars are brighter and the sky is bigger during the winter.

The one thing I've really come to appreciate about the other three seasons, however, I never really noticed until these past few months. Early morning and twilight were common times for me to be travelling to or from work, and it seems those times are when the smells in the air are the most noticeable. I'd just never really noticed before what a variance of sensations the evening air can carry to me as I speed along on my bike. Tonight was especially nice. Rotting leaves, a smell like dry hay, dusty gravel, wood fires, moist earth, all sorts of plant smells, spicy and pungent and fresh. They all blend together in a very harmonious way, changing so subtley that with each inhalation I'm aware of the scent having changed, but I can't quite remember what was different about it before.

Each season brings its own potpourri; Spring has that earthy smell of mud and thawing earth, Summer has daisies and freshly sweet grass and lake water, Autumn has dry hay and that leafy smell of decay. I shouldn't say that Winter has nothing. There is that distinctive smell of cold, fresh, clearness that comes with a crips Winter's night. There's also the smell of icy pine and moist firewood. But it seems to me that winter doesn't provide quite the 'glad to be alive' variety of sensations that the rest of the seasons do.

Could be I'm wrong. Like I said, I never noticed these things until just the last few months. Perhaps I haven't given winter a proper chance, and over the next few months, as I walk to work in the snow, I'll discover a whole variety of treats for the nose I'd never been aware of before. But in the meantime, I just want to send a shout out to Mother Nature in appreciation all the varieties of evening air I've enjoyed this year. Enjoy them while they last.

Guess What Guys.

It's coming.