Winter ~ Time

 Robert Louis Stevenson

Late lies the wintry sun a-bed,

A frosty, fiery sleepy-head;

Blinks but an hour or two; and then,

A blood-red orange, sets again.

Before the stars have left the skies,

At morning in the dark I rise;

And shivering in my nakedness,

By the cold candle, bathe and dress.

Close by the jolly fire I sit

To warm my frozen bones a bit;

Or with a reindeer-sled, explore

The colder countries round the door.

When to go out, my nurse doth wrap

Me in my comforter and cap;

The cold wind burns my face, and blows

Its frosty pepper up my nose.

Top of the Juniper is laying sideways

Broken under the weight of 1/2 inch of freezing rain.

Black are my steps on silver sod;

Thick blows my frosty breath abroad;

And tree and house, and hill and lake,

Are frosted like a wedding cake.

This week I write about my garden that has weathered two bitter storms with the loss of the top part of the Red Cedar (Juniper) Tree which broke under the weight of the ½ inch coating of freezing rain.  The biggest fear I always have of freezing rain predictions is power line outage in single digit weather.

So… a week of temperatures never above freezing, then two cold sunny days, then two days never above freezing again.  It’s been a slow burn thaw for the north and west sides of things that are in shade most times.

I, myself, am still iced in, as my safe route I can navigate by myself is out onto the back deck and down the steps, which is still a thick layer of ice.  This week should start thawing it as the weather warms to what we usually think of winter.

The scenic photos belie what really lies on the ground.  We had two inches of snow, than about one inch of sleet which settled into the snow, then much more freezing rain than I have ever seen in forty years of living here.  It all melded together into a hard shell of ice coating the ground and everything it touched.

I’m mesmerized when sleet falls.  One hears the tinny sound when the ice hits the ground, and a lot of ice drops hitting the ground create quite an out of this world experience in sound that the ears hear but it is difficult for the eyes to see.

When all ice has melted, we shall see what other damage stands out.  There’s a very long list of people needing help from our tree care company, so I don’t know where we are on the list.  30,000 customers in Davidson County alone, which is where we live, are still without power as of early Feb 1.

The first sign of spring will begin to sprout with the early plants that seem to laugh at whatever winter sends their way.  It's difficult to imagine that period of time will come upon us in just another month, unless we become victims of another ice age.

Our early narcissus had already showed themselves before the ice storm and still are standing tall.  They are tough little buggers.  Just a short post to download the photos we could safely take, and then the tree damaged when Vic could leave the house.

This is for all of you who celebrate V Day for lovers,

as we let it pass by without a word.