Believe it or not, I took this forsythia shot with my iPhone a few days ago. Our weather has been mild so far, though not unseasonably so for this time of a year. Yet apparently it's warm enough to fool several of my hillside forsythias into thinking spring has arrived already—and therefore high time to put forth a few bright and cheery blooms!
Things are getting pretty frantic around here. I'm still cutting wood, or trying to, when weather and time permits. But I've pretty much given up on doing anything more re. a number of unfinished details on the kitchen remodel for the next couple of months.
This is due not merely to the holidays, but the fact I have to go in for eye surgery in January and will be out of commission, sightwise, pretty much through February. Which means I have to get two months's worth of columns written and stockpiled before New Year's Day…and with Christmas and all, that's going to be really tough. I still have almost none of my shopping done. Plus Myladylove's birthday, and our anniversary, are both this coming Saturday.
I could really use an extra three months!
Yup, frantic is the word…
10 comments:
HI GRIZZ- I love the forsythia albeit out of season it is lovely and perhaps even timely in a "hope of the season' kinda way :-)
I hope your eye surgery is smooth and with all good outcomes. Cataract? I understand about 'frantic' as we count down to moving in less than 2 weeks and try to create a semblance of Christmas around all the boxes (most from liquor stores) as well as attending to a million details that moving to another state demands. Phew. I am so grateful I am feeling better than I was - still strengthening and healing.
I will be off line on the 26th until the 31st give or take.
Enjoy your days and the nights too
Love Gail
peace......
Gail…
Yup, I'll take a forsythia bloom any time...they're always lovely.
I know about trying to live around boxes—including those from the booze distributors, which are the ones I always collect and use for my books. I'm also living around stacks of stuff now, and it will only marginally improve until I can get the bulk of this remodeling business done. We'll straighten up as best we can for Christmas and New Year, but can't do much because there's no place left to put stuff away until I redo closets and shelve and rooms! (Got a magic wand?) I'll probably be offline from about January first until at least early-February—offline from this desktop screen, anyway. I will still be able to look at a few things on my phone and iPad, read but not write much beyond a short text. No columns or blog posts. Though maybe not even that.
I'm so glad you're feeling better. That's the best Christmas gift of all, a real blessing. I'm doing good too, just harried by all the stuff to get done and lack of time in which to manage so much work. (Yeah, I know…whine, whine whine…)
Take care, and if I don't hear from you or you from me beforehand, MERRY CHRISTMAS!
I sure hope your surgery goes well. I suppose it's better to be out of commission during winter than during summer, but that's a small plus. Take care, and if I don't get a chance to say it later, have a great holiday and a happy New Year!
Carolyn…
Thank you. You never know with surgery, of course, but neither I nor the surgeon foresee any complications or issues. And I'm dong it now for the very reason you said—because January and February seemed the best time to put myself in a sort of self-imposed prison. I could have waited for maybe a year or two more, but I wanted to get things over with and be ready for spring.
Adventures await, here along the river and there in view of Roundtop. Merry Christmas to you, too, and happy New Year!
Hi again - no, no magic wand!! Sure would come in handy tho :-)
I will miss you the moth f January and will be happy to see you again soon after. We will be quite busy setting up our new home and getting familiar with our surroundings. And yes, my feeling bette ris the best Christmas gift ever - Amen. Enjoy your life - every moment - savor every sight, smell, sound, touch, taste and feeling - and I will too. Even though I am saying lots of "so-longs" to family and friends I am blessed tofeel loss because it says I am loved and I love. Tears flow, smiles reappear, heart gets heavy and then lightens, moments of sadness and great joy ebb and flow - traditions honored, promises made, faith abounds, and hope is alive - I feel it all - thank God!
I love you Grizz -
Gail
peace......
Grizz: We had record highs in the low 70s both weekend days! Whoo-hoo! (That's for joy!) Kali and I ate al fresco in shirtsleeves in downtown Philadelphia with friends on Sunday evening; that was a first! I've got a rhododendron shrub with a few purple blooms outside my office window. I'm going to miss this when it's over. I have absolutely no Christmas spirit; more like, let's go hiking!
Gail…
Oh, wow—you've just said something so wonderful, so profound, that I had to say thank you. What you said was this: "I am blessed to feel loss because it says I am loved and I love." I never thought of it that way, but that is exactly right. The truth behind the emotion. If you don't care about something, don't have any emotional attachment, so giving it up is easy. There's no pain of leaving whatever behind, of breaking away, or saying goodbye. No tears are needed because your heart is not involved. And it a two-way street, for those people you care about, and those people who care about you.
"Tears flow, smiles reappear, heart gets heavy and then lightens, moments of sadness and great joy ebb and flow - traditions honored, promises made, faith abounds, and hope is alive - I feel it all - thank God!" Thank God, indeed! Thank God that people care about you and that you care about them! Your heart beats…you are a loving caring human with genuine feelings.
"I am blessed to feel loss…" Oh yes! You have taught me a real lesson.
Scott…
I'm also working pretty hard to come up with more than an once of Christmas spirit. I have carols playing, an almost fully decorated tree, all the old beloved Christmas items out…but the buzz and flutter just isn't there. I'm as seasonally flat as a flitter. And I'd like to blame weather—as evidenced by those blooming forsythia!— but the truth is, shirtsleeve temps in the days running up to Christmas are not unknown in the Midwest and Great Lakes. Yes, we might have had a record high (I didn't pay that much attention) but only by a degree or two and only on that date. I remember one Christmas season when I was about 18, going shopping with my friend in his Corvette, top down, wearing just an unlined jacket over shirtsleeves. It stayed that way for several days. I've taken more than one pre or post Christmas walk in shirtsleeves, too.
I'd prefer it to be cold and snowy. A good blizzard would be dandy! I love winter. And my firewood supply is now sufficient to give me time to shovel my way out and finish splitting what's already on the ground. I have food in the freezer and on the shelves to carry us for weeks. Yup, December can have at it and I'll be perfectly happy. Save the balmy days for June. I like winter to be winter.
Therefore, weather probably doesn't account for my mood. And frankly, I don't know what does—but if you figure it out, let me know. I hate saying "Bah! Humbug!" all the time.
Hope all goes well with the eye . Merry Christmas.
Penny…
Yup, me too. Thank you. Merry Christmas.
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