Winter Solstice Celebrated in Virginia

Some thoughts on winter which I find invigorating, from this morning's The Writer's Almanac:

Poets over the ages have proffered plenty of advice for the coming months. Poet Pietro Aretino, born in the 15th century, said, "Let us love winter, for it is the spring of genius." William Blake wrote, "In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy." There's a Japanese proverb that says, "One kind word can warm three winter months."

Emily Dickinson wrote, "There's a certain Slant of light, Winter Afternoons — That oppresses, like the Heft Of Cathedral Tunes." Existentialist Albert Camus wrote, "In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer." Victor Hugo once said, "Winter is on my head, but eternal spring is in my heart."

Well, it's 7:30   and the girls are up, noisy and happy despite some coughs, as they have school parties today.  Outside, the sky's clear, and as I look through the bare trees and over the pines, I can see a bit of pink  but mostly a sky tinged with blue...a clear, crisp, cold morning  And I forgot, Coco is up, frisky and happy, driving us all nuts. Jill has volunteered to help in Halle's class today and Evie's going as well, taking most of the morning. 


Girls made it to school, though neither one is feeling chipper.  Evie and Jill are showering, then going to wrap a few  presents, before heading off to help with the school parties.  I have been reading the papers, catching up on email, and now I'm going for a walk, one of my vows for this vacation, to get some exercise in each day.  So far, so good.

I am sitting in Caribou coffee now, a couple of miles from Jill's home, in a small shopping center with a Safeway, fairly new I think.  I walked close to an hour, exploring her neighborhood, the various configurations of homes and streets, took a shower, and came here because Evie and Jill were off to the girls' school to help with parties.  This is a densely populated areas, with huge tracks of homes built probably close to ten years ago, obviously a boom area, as the schools are too small and a couple of new ones are being built. There are a couple of main roads, and them in both directions are housing clusters, depending on the size of the development and shape of the land.  In Jill's area, for example, there are steep drops, off towards a creek, and homes follow this meandering waterway.  Lots of pipe stems, as they are called here, lead off of auxiliary roadways.  Towards the end of her street, our apartments as well, giving you the sense of being part of a larger community of homes and apartments, with little space in between to take advantage of the land's development potential.  As far as I can see, there are little if any open spaces in the residential area.  Near the school is a large recreational complex for the development, with tennis courts, play grounds, and a large outdoor swimming pool, the focus of summers for many residents, as many if not most kids are involved in the swim program.

We picked the girls up from school at 3:30, though we had a heck of a time capturing the dog to put a leash on him.  He's pretty good at avoiding our grasp but I finally got him with a treat.  Picking up the girls is like plucking them off a long, winding line of munchkins, all on their way home, with assorted bags and back packs.  Some parents, like us, were waiting for them at the stop sign, other kids, mostly boys ran home, playing along the way.  The girls then played outside till dark, for about an hour, and now we are getting ready to grill burgers, Juicy Lucy's, outside. 

Hectic School Morning in Bristow

The girls got up a bit late, though they are up and eating breakfast now.  Halle sat with me and we looked at pictures from 2007, some of all of us in Florida at Christmas, many of Halle when she was a baby, and some of Christmas at Tom's in 2008, I think, when Jill and Drew were at Leavenworth.  Hayden tried to play the 'I am too sick to go to school game', but Granny was able to get her out of her mood and start laughing so it looks as though it's all go this morning for school.  We'll see.  It's partly cloudy outside, in the high 20's, and the snow still covers the ground though all the sidewalks and streets are clear.

We finally convinced Hayden to go to school, though we all thought she was not feeling up to snuff.  She seemed happy enough once she got going but I thought she looked pale.  Not much on the agenda today, other than Jill manning the welcome desk at school, and Evie will be going with her, to keep her company and see the girls in their school setting.  I think I will explore the area a bit, as I have no idea of the lay of the land here in Bristow other than there's a mall about three miles away.  I don't think there's much here, like most surburbia, other than shopping centers and older strip malls, no town centers.

Evie and Jill are at the girls' school and I am at the local shopping center, sitting at a Starbucks, staring out the window at Uno Pizza, Adoba Mexican Grill, The Bungalow Alehouse, Coldstone, and Papa
Johns...I could be anywhere in the US because right around the corner are all the big chain stores, the Best Buy, Target, Lowe's et al.  The shopping center is packed, making me wonder, once again, if anyone works anymore.  Most, myself included, just seem to spend money on non necessities, like a Venti at Starbucks, $2.21 including tax, I think.  No wonder I don't go to Starbuck anymore except on the rare occasion when I have on vacation.  There seems to be an older crowd at this Starbucks, or it's the time of the day.  Gosh, there are a few people older than me!  Better hit the road soon as Coco will need to taken for a walk soon...dogs, the bane of my vacationing life!

A Halle Morning

Up around 7:00 and sat down with Drew, to watch Sports Center and cruise the Internet when Halle came bouncing down, jumped on the couch next to me with two books, and we were off.  First, we read JACK AND JILL AND BIG DOG,  then BISCUIT GOES TO SCHOOL.  Both are quite fun and even though she has them memorized, we are getting her to pay more attention to sounding out words and thinking about what she is reading rather than just memorizing.  She is afraid to think about it, just lets her memory speak rather than trying to read, typical of this age, I think.  She is getting better and she was able to spell out all sorts of words that rhymed with hill, like pill, dill, till, ill, and mill.  She is getting the idea.  Then, she ran up and got her Barbie computer and we figured out how to get some games working, one that spells out a word in Spanish, then shows a picture of the word, like horse.  We tried some of the math games but they seemed too difficult, as she still has some trouble were her numbers, especially those over ten.  I can remember the last time we visited and Evie worked really hard with her on ten through twenty but she still needs to work on them. She is a doll and is sitting on Evie's lap working on her spelling.  She is happy to work at her skills all day, with a smile.

I have to get some exercise in this vacation, my vow, so let's see how long it's takes for me to break it.  Not long I imagine as I feel lazy already and it's only 8:30.  Coco just came down, after sleeping upstairs with Jill, so I imagine she'll be up soon.  Time to start thinking about doing something other than sitting on the couch and reading or writing.  Trouble, as Hayden just came down, having slept in late for her, despite her alarm going off at 7:00.  She wants the dog and the fun begins, as he'is sitting on Halle's lap.  Let's play 'who gets Coco.'

Just ate dinner, and we are all filled up with junk food from Burger King because Chick Filet closes on Sundays because the founder vowed that his employees would never have to work on Sunday.   I suspect.  Jill and Drew went to a movie, then dinner, so they won't be home till later.  Earlier in the day, Drew added some lights to his attempt to be Clark Griswold and wouldn't you know it, after they left, the lights came on momentarily then the lights in the house went out.  I checked the circuits and one was sprung, so I reset it; the lights went off again, just like at the Griswolds, so I went out side and pulled some plugs, reset the breaker again and we have not had a problem.  Drew's sister's children, Caleb and Carly came over and decorated Christmas cookies for a couple of hours, a couple of cute kids, one is Halle's age, and Caleb is seven.  We are sitting watching Toy Story, though we want to get the kids ready for bed soon as they have school tomorrow and with these two, it takes quite awhile, after all the preparations, the stories, the talks, karate, and all. Coco has jumped up on my lap and snuggled between my arm and computer.  He can be cute when he's not biting or humping your leg.  Ahh, the beauty of a puppy.

Morning with the Bissells

I slept in till 7:30 and Drew was already up.  We sat watching CNN and had our computers but talked mostly about the sad state of affairs in our political, governmental, and military world, how they are seem bloated and wasteful, though it's almost impossible to change them, as everyone, as Drew said, is worried about keep their 'rice bowls' full.  Hayden got up, followed shortly by Halle, and they came and sat with me as we looked at photos from the summer and Thanksgiving.  Evie then got up and joined us, then Jill, so it was time to start breakfast.  Everyone wanted pancakes, so Evie and the girls got cooking.  It looks like a sunny day, thought there is still snow on the ground.  Jill and Drew are planning a shopping day, followed by dinner and a movie, so we get the girls for the day.  I forgot to mention Coco, the ball of white fur.  It took awhile for him to adjust to us, but now he jumps on my lap and falls asleep,  The girls love him, obviously, and he enjoys them, even if they carry him around.  He does seem to be Jill's baby, however, as she is the preferred lap.

Jill and I took Coco out for a short walk before she and Drew went off to the store.  Evie and the girls decorated Christmas cookies while I watched Kansas eke out another home victory.  Jill and Drew returned and decide to stay home and have pizza with us rather than going out for dinner and a movie.  They may go tomorrow depending on how energetic they feel.  They took off again to return some stuff to Pottery Barn and order a couple of new chairs.  Evie ended up playing hide and seek, while I looked at photos again with Hayden.  Kind of a lazy day after our drive yesterday and the girls seem content to just hang out in the house.  O, yea, I took a brief nap with Coco laying on my chest sleeping, legs up in the air, completely oblivious.  What can I say, dogs just like me.

On The Road Again and Again: Ashville to Bristow

We left about 7:15, to light snow, and it snowed until we hit Interstate 80 in PA, though the roads seemed fine and the traffic was light through Warren, Ridgeville, and Pen.  Once we hit #220 down to the PA turnpike it was fine, and from then on, we had sun most of the way, arriving at Jill's about 2:15, just about seven hours exactly.  When we arrived in Bristow, there was snow on the ground and the girls were out sledding in the side yard, and the sun was out, a perfect day.

Just finished dinner, tacos and the fixings, and now the two  girls are dancing to disco tunes, much to our delight.  Hayden's a bit self conscious but Halle could care less.  She just dances, oblivious to the surroundings, groovin to the tunes.  In between dances, they hug their puppy Coco, as Drew and I sit here with our computers.  We are bores, no doubt.

Packing is Hard to Do

We leave for the Bissell's tomorrow morning, so today's the day we really get organized.  I leave for breakfast with the guys in 15 minutes, then when I return, we head off to Lakewood, to finish our shopping and get a few items from Wegman's.  Fortunately, Evie finished wrapping everything yesterday, so today it's a matter of getting all that we will need for our trip in one place, then packed, then put into the car for our early departure tomorrow morning.  My only worry is the roads; I think I will stick to the Interstate rather than going back roads through PA, which means we have to head back to Erie, down to Pittsburgh, then take the turnpike to Breezewood, where we then head south to Bristow.  It looks like Jill and family will have some snow today, but the weather tomorrow seems pretty good, once we get out of the Chautauqua/Erie area, inshallah.

It's still cold, 16 degrees, the lake is covered with snow and the snow flakes continue to fall, though only an inch or two fell over night.  It would be nice to see the sun but we will have to wait till tomorrow, when we are on the road.  I am off to breakfast at the Bemus Point Inn.

The sun is beginning to set, yes, the sun, and the far hills are still bathed in late afternoon light.  It's such a relief to have sunshine; it makes the day so enjoyable, even if you are just out shopping. It actually  seemed warm out side though it's only 21 degrees right now, but there's not wind, which makes a big difference.  We hope to get the car mostly packed before dark, so we will be ready to go tomorrow.  Just heard from Jill that the girls had a snow day, though tomorrow it's supposed to warm up.

Left over chicken tonight, early to bed, so we can head off before 7:00 tomorrow.  After conferring with my new breakfast buddies, we are going the back way through Warren, PA, down to Altoona, then on the the pike before heading south again on  back roads to Virginia.

December Winds

As SUNDIAL OF THE SEASONS suggests, there are no breezes in the winter.  The storm systems move faster and the cold air of the winter is actually heavier than the warm air of summer, thus exerting more pressure when it blows, thus the howling I suppose.  And there's no leaves to slow it down, as it passes freely through the bare trees, adding to its power.  Fortunately, it calmed down a bit last night, so I was not awakened by its howling, the house groaning from its strength.  But it's picked up a bit this morning, creating small snow squalls out over the lake, as the dawn takes away the dark.  It's 18 degrees at 7:00, a few degrees warmer than yesterday.  It looks like we got another six inches last night and more to come today.  It's not supposed to calm down till Friday, the day we head off for the Bissell's in Virginia.

We went to Ron and Linda's last night, for designer pizzas, both really good.  And we had no trouble getting there or returning as we managed to pick times when there were no snow squalls, making visibility quite good,  It's amazing how few cars there are on the roads, especially after dark, compared to the summer months.  We can drive to Ron and Linda's and see only a couple of cars.  My favorite pizza was squash, Gorgonzola, pine nuts, and Italian ham, though the more traditional sausage was also good.  I think pizza and hamburgers are my two favorite meals, something I can go back to often and happily.  We had given them a few gifts last week, so they returned the favors,  giving Evie a neat stoneware basket for heating bread in the oven and a fish bottle opener for me.  They obviously know my interests.

We are roasting a chicken for dinner, with potatoes and brussell sprouts, my favorite.  Evie has spent the day finishing off the baking of cookies for the kids to decorate and she finally finished the wrapping of the presents.  Now all we have to do is pack for our trip and were off on Friday morning, weather permitting.