Safe and Sound

The storms rolled in very early Saturday morning, waking me at 4:00 am with rain plastering the windows and the wind whipping through the trees surrounding our little home.  We arose around 5:45 and turned on the tv news, watching all the latest on storm tracking.  We'd had plans to leave for the day and travel towards the central part of the state for a knifemakers guild meeting, but it didn't take a brilliant mind to know that the best thing was to simply stay put.  Throughout the morning, rain came hard, then changed to soft drizzle, then stopped completely and then started all over again... all the while the wind sang a mighty song and the clouds flew across the sky.  We knew that the worst of it was to come in the early afternoon, and it did... but for us, the worst of it was nowhere near what had been predicted and we sighed with relief when we didn't lose power nor trees nor even many tree limbs.  And then, around 3:00 or so, the sun, with all her brilliance, came out against a clear blue sky and created a scene of glistening calm over our piece of the world.  But just a couple hours to the east of us, in the central part of the state (near where we'd planned to travel) and parts a little further east, folks were living in a nightmare, hard hit with tornadoes and much, much damage and loss of life. It's been rather frightening and quite sad to see those photos and hear the stories on tv and on the internet.  It will be a long while before some of these people have any semblance of a normal life again, not to mention inner peace, and our thoughts and prayers are with them.

The way we see things depends, of course, on our outlook and beliefs about life. I feel grateful and blessed in so many ways, and I believe storms, whether internal or external, can bring us blessings if we are open to them.  A storm like this one, with its strength and enormity and endurance, makes me pause in awe and consider the ways of nature, how things work together to create what will become. 

On Sunday, as I enjoyed a good book... The Other by David Guterson, author of Snow Falling On Cedars... in the sun on our deck, I saw the first hummingbird of the season.  I quickly cleaned out the feeder and filled it, and oh the antics and songs I have heard and enjoyed since.  I believe the winds of our powerful weekend storm brought the hummingbirds, these marvelous creatures who are at once fearless and exuberant.

Snow is a'falling

And somebody is very happy about it! Just look at that smile! Our grandpuppy Empi knows how to have a good time and enjoy the world around her.

Here is a photo of the sky on Thursday night. It was full of clouds and a pretty ring around the almost-full moon... according to the old wives, the sign of coming snow.

And come it did. It started last night around 8... small pinpoints of dry snow coming done in the moonlight. It covered the ground and was deepening by the time we turned out the lights around 11. This morning... there's about 8 inches on the ground and it has now turned into a wintry mix with snow and sleet. So it will be a good day to sit by the woodstove, enjoy a good book, maybe watch a movie, maybe play a game of Scrabble, eat popcorn and chocolate, and feel okay about not really doing anything at all. And oh yes... the chance to listen to the extreme quiet that always accompanies this kind of weather.

Fortunately, yesterday John split the oak that had been in the shed, so now our woodpile is larger and we're all set for the cold that we'll have for a few more days following this storm.

The front yard, looking towards Moore's Wall

Behind the house, up the hill... John's barn / knifemaking studio

And a few more photos of Empi checking everything out.


At 9:30, it's still a very dark morning. Tonight will be a full moon, and if the clouds have moved on by then, it should make for a very bright and magical night. Stay tuned!