Wednesday, December 2, 2009

The Moon, the Snow and the Road



How many of you know that the moon was full last night?  That's one of the advantages to living in a house where the outside creeps in any way it can.  I slept lightly, wandering in and out of sleep last night because the moon was so bright, first shining in the east windows as it rose higher and then shining in the west windows as it set.  I don't have any curtains to keep the outside out.  There's no need for curtains when the only soul looking in is a rabbit, or maybe a deer.  I can't get away from the night light and I don't want to.  For me, that's all a part of being connected to nature. I had a fire in the woodstove and it was almost too warm inside.  To be fair, it wasn't that cold, only about 25 and it wasn't windy.  Inside, 70.

The moon was so bright it made sharp shadows against the snow.  It reminded me of those cheap western movies where they film night shots in daytime and put a blue filter up, making it all look like night.  Not realistically night, but enough to get their point across.  I tried to take a picture of the huge moon against the snow at night, but it was too much for the camera to take in.  You'll have to settle instead for a morning picture of the moon setting right before sunrise.

It snowed yesterday but didn't stick most places. My house is at 1800 feet altitude, the snow looks like this now and the road is a bit icy. The mailbox, 3/4 mile away is 300 feet lower and there is no snow there. Downtown bustling metropolis, my small town is 7 miles away, 800 feet lower than the house and it looks like it never snowed at all.




Twenty-four and a half miles of my 25-mile commute takes place on dry roads.  It's the last 1/2 mile that always seems to cause the trouble.  Last night on the way home, my car slipped a little bit in that half mile, making me think that I should drive the truck today. 

But I'm going to drive the car today.  The weather man says it's going to get quite a bit warmer today, and besides, I have an errand to run at lunchtime - it's Salvation Army day. (80% of the store is 50% off on Wednesdays and I have a new sewing project to buy materials for.)  The parking lot at the Salvation Army is small and yukky - I would regret taking the truck there.  Today shopping won out over the last 1/2 mile when I made the decision about what to drive.  In a month, I'll likely make a different decision.

1 comment:

  1. If it was 25 outside and 70 inside, I'd say you are marking a HUGE improvement over last year!~ Congrats!! I work 20 minutes inland from Lake Erie and I had snow yesterday at home, but none at work and I sort of forgot about the snow at home until someone asked me. That is the way it is all winter here. These people whine about the bad weather and I just shake my head. I always have at least double the snow they do, and usually more than that. It's winter in NY state. That's just the way it is. Still trying to figure out what to do to my gardens before winter. I'd like to get some poop on them. My mom's neighbor is Amish with chickens and thinking maybe I could get some 'good poop' from him. But I don't know if it has horse poop mixed in and if that is too strong for next year. It seems like some poop needs to rot a bit so it doesn't burn your plants...is that something someone made up, or the truth?? It's just going to sit all winter, but I want it to be good to go in the spring...nothing too powerful.
    My MIL lives in a small town with streetlights around her and thinks it is too dark here.. I like the dark, starry skies, too.

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