Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Wednesday

Never promise something that is on the high end of the range of possibilities, because if what's delivered is at the low end, the recipient is going to be grossly disappointed.

That's the way I feel about the sky today. You know, that great Midwestern sky that I like to brag about. That same one that has cast a shadow over our landscape for such a long time. The weather people promised it would give us sunshine today.

Bullshit. No sunshine. Just more of the same colorless sky, leading me to proclaim at breakfast...


farmette-7.jpg


...you know, it really is quite ugly out there right now.
Ed is shocked. These are not words that I usually apply to our landscape. I backpedal right away: I mean, it's monochromatic. 


farmette-5.jpg



That it is. That's the farmette for you,  at dawn, as I step out to set the cheepers free.


farmette-4.jpg
(why is it so cold out there?)


It is cooler now, so that our brood hesitates for many hours before making the trek up to the farmhouse.


farmette-17.jpg



Never mind. Enough about them. Time to get mobile. It always surprises me how sedentary we become when the landscape isn't to our liking. Put a layer of snow on our terrain and I'm out, camera dangling. Strip it of any color or snow and I turn my back on it.

Today I force myself to head out.

To my daughter's.


farmette-19.jpg
(a more accurate rendition of my girl with her girl)


And then downtown to meet a friend for a drink. As I take a brief stroll along a city street (Madison is a city, right?), I think that these early winter weeks are the only time when the city does look better than the countryside.


 farmette-21.jpg



Our seasonal blandness is hardly noticeable in the concrete and asphalt world of urban neighborhoods.


farmette-23.jpg


And still, I return home to the farmette with not a small amount of pleasure. In the country, you develop this fortitude -- an attitude of endurance. This drab stuff -- this too shall pass. In the meantime, let's fix a nice pot of winter chili and settle in for a warm evening at home.

10 comments:

  1. Nina, You are having a restless day, eh? The landscape sleeps. I have a feeling spring brings you a lot of joy.

    Nice photos of the peepers as usual.

    The 'girls' look close. Soon to be a grandmother will probably help with cloudy skies.

    Chili sounded good. I made stew but we had sunshine today and it was 55*.....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Impatient, yes. I need at least one full hour of sunshine per week. Not unreasonable!

      Delete
  2. Good for you for keeping Ed on his toes!

    We had about 20 minutes of sunshine yesterday. The past several days have reminded me on winter in central Germany (damp, sunless, cool days) so I, too, am anxious for either sun, snow (or greedily, both). Here's to hoping today brings a bit more color.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Tis the season for chili - I made it two nights ago and had it two nights in a row. First chili I've made in a very long time but it was so good. It's very very gray here lately but just now, as I write, the sun is poking through up there... time to celebrate!

    ReplyDelete
  4. We had lots of glorious sun yesterday, but I guess it did not go south enough for you. Today, back to cloudy and soft flurries. I love days when the snow just seems of float in the air. What a great baby bump shot; that's one for the album! And I loved your thoughts on urban versus rural in this season. ox

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Passed us by today as well. And we missed your snow!

      Delete
  5. Eh, it's December in where? Oh yeah, Wisconsin! ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Last year at this time we were skiing daily. This year? It's not going to happen before the New Year. Sigh...

      Delete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.