Saturday Reflection

Winter Sunset, painted January 2013

As I stood at the kitchen sink this morning waiting for the coffee to perk
and  washing up the dishes from last night's dinner -- a chore put off in order to spend just a few more minutes with my love -- I looked up and saw the silhouette of a mourning dove on the telephone line that runs through my front yard. In the background were leafless apple trees all gnarled with age posed in the classic stance of old men stooped over on their canes with one arm bracing their backs and clouds so deeply grey you could wring the moisture from them with a harsh glance from your eyes. Peeping between the clouds meandering across the horizon a yellow so bright it is edged with white - or is it the other way around?

At that point I realized that the glorious stark Winter sunrises and sunsets are almost over. While I enjoy every season it's taken me years to appreciate the beauty of winter. The sharp contrasts. Delighting in the variety and quantity of birds at the feeders. Watching the slow change from Autumn to Winter and now from Winter to Spring. Mother Earth falling to sleep and waking back up. As one ends another begins. More subtle than the calendar change from one year to the next.

This winter I've been blessed to watch Bandit play in the snow for the very first time. I've learned to love our two mile hikes in the snow watching the tracks alongside the trail. Listening to the way the snow squeaks under the crunch of winter boots knowing that it's really cold.

It's been great watching the cardinals, blue jays, red-winged blackbirds, tufted tit-mice, nuthatches, wrens, finches and black-capped chickadees. Not to mention the ever-present mourning doves. I love the sound their wings make when they take flight. Yet when I see dozens of them scrunched up like vultures perched in the thorn apple tree by the feeder I just want to pull out a shotgun and take a quick shot. Lucky for them I live in town too close to the neighbor for that to ever happen.

Tomorrow is a day of rest. Today my only chores are moving the squash and cucumber seedlings to the kitchen window so they get a bit more sunlight and machine quilting a nine-patch quilt (photo coming soon). Perhaps I'll take some of the leftover sticky buns to the neighbor [recipe here]. They're probably good with coffee. Perhaps I should taste one to make sure they haven't gone bad overnight.

The snow is floating down from the sky and I must start my chores.

Y'all have a great day!