snow — Page 46

Drat

January 16, 2013 at 8:38 am by Claudia

livingroom

Greetings. It’s early in the morning, the lights are on, the blanket on the loveseat is a bit mussy, confirming the fact that Scout considers it her bed.

masonjars

Over the past several days, the many inches of snow that were on the ground melted away until there was just the odd pile here and there. Even the snow you see in the photo above had disappeared.

I was happy. Frankly, it makes things so much easier around here – for me, for Scout, for our driveway. I can appreciate the beauty of snow but after many, many years of dealing with it, the bloom is off the rose, so to speak. Especially when I am handling this all by myself for a couple of months.

snowagain

This is what I woke up to this morning. Pretty? Yes. Annoying? Yes, yes and yes.

Because now I’ve got to shovel everything. And we have a lot of driveway. That goes uphill. Then I have to salt. My back is already complaining at just the thought of it.

And, though I know it is with the best of intentions, please don’t tell me we should buy a snow blower. I know we should. But it’s not in the budget right now. I am the snow blower.

That doesn’t sound right, does it?

So as I sit here, listening to Ravel’s Bolero on the radio, I am girding my loins for the job ahead. It’s not a huge amount of snow, thank goodness. But it’s enough.

One more cup of coffee. Then it’s go time.

Oh drat. The plow just went by.

What’s the weather like in your neck of the woods?

Several of you mentioned that you were disappointed that the scarf I listed yesterday sold so quickly. If you are interested in one in that color, send me an email. I’d be happy to make one for you, providing I know just how much of that particular color to order.

Happy Wednesday.

signature2

Potpourri Thursday

January 3, 2013 at 9:21 am by Claudia

snowtracks1

snowtracks2

It’s been busy out there on my front lawn. Lots of activity. And, no, those aren’t my tracks. One thing I love about the snow in the winter is that I can see the evidence of the animals that live with us here on the property. Mostly deer, I suspect, but also bunny rabbits and other mysterious critters. I have a feeling they might have been munching on my boxwood – that seems to be the direction in which those tracks are headed.

It is very cold here. Very cold. I need to hack at some of the ice on the driveway but I haven’t as of yet. My neighbor did a great job of snow blowing the driveway so I could get home on Sunday night. Thanks, Fred! What a relief it was to be able to drive up, park the car and make my way up to the house (relatively) easily.

msscout

Someone didn’t do well with boarding. I think that the techs at the animal hospital thought she was doing okay because she was relatively still and wasn’t barking much. But when I got her home on Monday morning, she was extremely agitated and nervous and it took several hours to calm her down. She wasn’t herself. And I noticed a large area of red skin on her elbow where she had been chewing – something she has started to do when she is anxious. I know my girl and she was very upset. I quickly came to the conclusion that, at the age of 14 and after years of never being boarded, she just can’t handle it. She lost her brother this year. She was very sick twice. Her dad is away. It’s too much for her. So I will take her with me next week. Gulp. We’ll be staying in an apartment building. She’ll have to do her business on walks in the park. I’ve arranged for an apprentice to sit with her during the time I have to be at Tech/Dress and 1st Preview – so that she has some company and doesn’t bark out of anxiety.

It will be an adventure.

afghan

Last night, I started weaving in all the ends of yarn in the afghan. I think I’ll crochet some sort of edging and then it will be finished. I’m awaiting a delivery of quilt batting and backing fabric. Once that arrives, I’ll baste the 3 layers together and my next project will officially be the hand quilting of our bed quilt. I need something to work on in the evenings with Don away.

As I wove in yarn ends last night, I watched Platinum Blonde on TCM. Have you ever seen that movie? It stars Jean Harlow, Loretta Young, and Robert Williams. Who is Robert Williams, you say? That’s what Don and I said the first time we watched this wonderful film directed by Frank Capra. This guy was one of the best film actors I’ve ever seen. Simply one of the best. I was stunned the first time I saw him. Naturally, I wondered why I had never heard of him. The tragedy is that this was his first starring role in a film and everyone involved with it knew he would become a star. He steals the film from everyone else on the screen. This was going to be his big break. The powers-that-be were grooming him for stardom. Three days after the film opened, at the age of 37, his appendix ruptured and he died of peritonitis.

Heartbreaking. And Jean Harlow would be dead 6 years later from renal failure. Such talent, both of them, and gone so young. I find this sort of loss haunting. Such untimely deaths with so much potential unrealized. If you can ever watch Platinum Blonde, do. Williams was brilliant. What a tragic loss. Thank goodness this brilliant performance is preserved on film. At least he has that. And we have that.

tripod

I’ve been playing around with my new tripod. That was the present from Don that I opened via Skype on Christmas morning. This one is pretty fancy and I look forward to more tripod adventures. I used it to take that photo of Scout.

I haven’t taken down my Christmas decorations yet, mostly because I have to go out to the shed to get the boxes. Did I mention it was cold, icy and slippery? I may do it today.

We’ll see.

Happy Thursday.

signature2

Snow in the City

December 30, 2012 at 8:52 am by Claudia

snowyhartford

It started snowing in the afternoon here in Hartford and by the time I left rehearsal at 6:00, there were several inches on the ground. It was a bit windy and the falling snow was flying everywhere.

To me, it was magical.

It reminded me of my years living in Philadelphia and Boston – cities where one can get around by walking or by mass transit. I didn’t have or need a car in those days. So when a big snow storm came, I just slogged my way down the street on foot. I didn’t have to worry about driving in it. Life didn’t come to a standstill, it went on.

As I walked through the heavily falling snow, I saw it gleam and twinkle in the streetlights. This time, the snow was the beautiful light and fluffy version and I really loved it.

snowyhartford2

The entrance to Bushnell Park with the trees wrapped in beautiful Christmas lights – so pretty. The falling snow in a city brought back memories of several of my grad school classmates and me walking through a blizzard trying to make our way to the subway in order to get to a rehearsal. We had to grab onto light poles because it was so windy and we laughed ourselves silly. Or leaving the building I worked in at Boston University in the evening, getting on the T, eventually alighting in Harvard Square where I continued my journey on foot for several blocks until I reached my warm and dry apartment. Snow is beautiful when it swirls and glimmers in the evening lights of a city.

There was a freedom that came with living in a city when winter weather hit. Stores stayed open. Daily life continued. And even though I might have been pelted with flying snow as I made my way around the city, the point is I could do it. Now that I live in the country and have to drive everywhere I am much more hesitant about driving in snow. I no longer have the seeming fearlessness that I had as a young adult, when I thought nothing of driving across the state in a blizzard to attend a friend’s wedding. What was I thinking?

snowyhartford3

This morning it is very windy and the streets have been cleared. Don asked my neighbor to please clear a bit of our driveway so that I can drive up it – at least a part of it – and park the car when I get home tonight. More shoveling tomorrow. Oh, that’s right – when I lived in an apartment I didn’t have to shovel snow!

Sometimes I miss living in the city. This is one of them. I think I will always have that push-pull feeling. Drawn to the country vs. drawn to the city. I lived in both and each of them has a piece of my heart.

It’s been wonderful being in a rehearsal studio again. I love my work. I feel so at home in rehearsal spaces and theaters – I’m sure if I tallied up the amount of hours I have spent there, the result would be shocking. I know what I’m doing in those spaces. I know how to work there. I know who I am. I’ve been there as an actress and as a coach and teacher. The actors in this show are very talented and very nice. I’ll be back in a little over a week to spend a few more days as they work onstage in front of an audience.

Poor Scout. Boarding again.

And for a little comic relief, I saw this on my walk to rehearsal yesterday:

pigeontake-out

A pigeon eating take out.

And why not?

Happy Sunday.

signature2

Drat

Potpourri Thursday

Snow in the City

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

Archives