Freeze and Thaw

Good Morning -

Not bad, eh? Just a week(ish) between the last post and now. I'm actually pretty amazed that I'm doing this today because I've felt most agitated and unmotivated (which may seem like contradictory energies, but manifests as sitting and stewing without taking action) most of the weekend.

Normally I'm not into a blame model, but I do chose this morning to point that bony finger of accusation at my family. Source of my agitation and sadness, I find myself thinking most dark thoughts in their direction. My work these past two days has been holding the feelings in one hand with patience and acknowledgment while not letting them slop all over my life and make a mess. Mostly it's worked.

Patty is singing "Long Ride Home" and I find myself soothed by the music and filled with gratitude for my partner, who took the time to load the 200 disc changer so that we can have music. I love Patty and I love my partner.

Let's talk Virgens.

The one above is from March 21 and represents the bounty of seeds and onions and potatoes we bought to plant at a great nursery called The Flower Bin that my partner found not far from our home. After a quick soil-turning in our baby plot in the community garden, we headed up to this place to get some worms (how she found it - they came up as a local place that sold composting worms) and seeds. I'm so ready for this garden.

March 22. It was a Sunday and I spent most of the day tuckered out just from the being of things.

March 23. This is one of the seeds I bought. I've never done anything with lovage, but picked it up in my seed-selection frenzy. I'm looking forward to figuring out what I can do with it - as an herb, chances are good that I can either eat it, drink it, beautify my body with it, or decorate with it. Maybe all. We'll see.

March 24 - more simple garden lust. Soon, soon enough.

March 25. I knew that we were supposed to get some good snow the following day and hadn't been able to ride my bike to the park-n-ride all week because of different obligations that mandated driving to the city instead of taking the bus, so went on a nice, long bike ride that afternoon. Wow. I'm surely, surely out of shape. There was a big successive series of hills (the kind that make you think you're almost to the top until you get to the top and realize that there is another and another and, and, and...) that nearly killed me - but didn't - and that's what matters.

12.6 is the number of miles I rode - which is nowhere near 75, but is twice as much as I had previously ridden (3.3 x 2 - home to park-n-ride and back at night). It felt really good to be back on my bike - even if just for an hour. Because I have a history of being in bike shape, I can both feel the reality of getting back into that shape and the clear, long distance between where I currently stand and that level of in shape. Different would be if I was training for a marathon or triathlon or other such sports because I've never done either, so don't have muscle memory of successfully running 26 miles or doing three big sports in one event.

I have muscle memory of successfully biking 100 miles in a day, so this I can do.

March 26 - snow, snow, snow. I had gone to bed the night before with the understanding that we were supposed to get big snow this day, so planned on being able to work from home. When I woke at 5:30 to a mere dusting, though, I just about wept my own little snowstorm until my partner woke up and assured me that big snow was happening that day.

And it did. By 7 a.m. it was snowing and blowing and creating quite a show that didn't fully let up until Friday morning. Such a blessing - we were so, so dry here. More pictures of this glorious event following the Virgens.

March 27. I used the snow day to finally get my desk and such set up and came across this photo from a magazine in the process. I cut it out years ago because the pig always made me smile and have moved it around from pile to pile and place to place.

Finding it again had me smiling anew because that's exactly what Boris does when anyone opens the fridge. Diabetes has made him into a single-issue fellow, and all his calm, determined energy is now evenly divided between napping and monitoring fridge activities.

March 28. Certainly that's an obvious enough statement about the potential impact from buying local, but it also seems like a rather obvious solution to some of our food woes, so it fits. I did a stump speech the other night in the kitchen in which I imagined a day in which all produce is organic and the majority of that sold in the grocery is local, save for that tiny display of bananas and mangoes for those who crave something exotic for a rare and special treat. My partner promised to vote for me.


Perfect pairing with a blizzard - homemade cocoa. My partner makes the best cocoa.

The view onto the back porch during the storm. Just amazing - 16 inches here in all.

Being the experiential little thing that I am, I wanted to feel the blizzard, so I bundled up and walked around the block during the height of the storm. Amazing. This shot is from the shelter of a garage overhang around the block.

This was a first for me today - hanging laundry on the line with snow on the ground. It's a beautiful day, though, and I'm a bit behind on the cleaning of clothes, so on went the boots and up went the wet clothes.

I love that winter in Colorado means 16 inches of snow one day, followed by blue sky and 50's the next day. I love this place.

Here's to that. Here's to freezing and thawing. Here's to laundry firsts, and here's to cocoa made with love.