November 15, 2007 

One must have a mind of winter
To regard the frost and the boughs
Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;

And have been cold a long time
To behold the junipers shagged with ice,
The spruces rough in the distant glitter

Of the January sun; and not to think
Of any misery in the sound of the wind,
In the sound of a few leaves,

Which is the sound of the land
Full of the same wind
That is blowing in the same bare place

For the listener, who listens in the snow,
And, nothing himself, beholds
Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.

Wallace Stevens  (1879-1955)

t snowed resoundly last night. I can say that as the winds blew as well. However it warmed up. The turkeys also made their way into the barn on their own, of which I was completely grateful to them. I need some AAA batteries for my headlamp. The lone flashlight I have is dying a slow and tragic death. It is a windup one and I have no clue why it will not do what it is supposed to do. It just fades more and more. It is difficult to do evening chores without good light. But when there is snow on the ground and a good moonlight, it is bright and clear. However, there were clouds and no moon last night.

Thankfully I have a job which I can work from home often, so I came home earlier than I had planned due to the snow amounts falling. Road crews use liquid calcium on the roads up here. It is supposed to control road dust in the summer and melts ice in the winter. Everyone complains about it. It makes roads and (metal on vehicles) very slippery. I am glad I came home when I did as people were slipping going UP the mountain road and I am not convinced it was from ice and snow. I grabbed 4 more bags of sand for my truck to make it safely home. 

I am back to shoveling out the driveway again this morning. It is not as deep as last time, only about 4", so it ought to go faster than the previous snow? I am hoping anyway. The snowplows actually were going past on the road before 7 am. Which in itself was rare and unusual.

Late last night I had a phone call from a friend with disconcerning news. In a way it is bad, in a way good. I wish them the best and a solid recovery. 2007 is getting stranger and stranger. I think I cannot wait for 2008 to give a fresh palette.