The Big Snow

February has melted into the past. Actually, it hasn’t melted at all; rather, it has dumped great loads of heavy, wet snow that covers the world with a quiet stillness. The sentinel trees stand silently, their dark trunks poised as if waiting for something, while their lazy branches sleep under pristine blankets of freshly fallen ice-feathers.

In the stillness, laughter rings out, mingling with the twitter of birds that are ever present at the feeders. When the all is quiet, you can hear the rapid flutter of their wings as they dart from the shelter of the tree, quickly pecking up a tasty seed.

The snow doesn’t stop the squirrels. You can see their bounding tracks crisscrossing the open yard, connecting the walnut tree to the cedar tree, the cedar to the ash, the ash to the hickory.

Rufus is back. The chipmunk woke and came up from the ground a bit to early. His tracks scurry around the foundation of the house as he tries in vain to keep out of the deep snow.

Yesterday morning Abigail crept to the window with little cries of delight as she watched a mourning dove perch on a walnut branch. “It looks like a snow bird!” She watched it for a few minutes then flew off to the art cabinet where she hurriedly snatched some paper and colored pencils to draw for me what she had seen. She labeled her drawing: “WAL NUTT TREA” “MAMA [heart] I LOVE YOU” “TO: MAMA” “FROM [smiley face] ABBi” Then she mingled her imagination with her reality and added a queen with a golden crown riding on a donkey and leading a camel, a camel with only one hump. The camel was leading a baby horse, but you could only see its head as the rest of it was behind the ‘wal nutt trea’. I have a budding artist and storyteller!

Phinehas is starting to read. We are using “Teach Your Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons.” I had seen the book a couple of times before (thanks Darla!) and had rejected it after a quick glance. But the thought of it kept nagging me from time to time so I got it out from the library and actually read the intro and looked through the book. I started Abbi around lesson 65 or 70 and she is loving it! I like that there is a tangible end in sight; before I was using a series of 6 readers. They are fun, but we are only in book 3. That was a l-o-n-g goal! We can still use the readers, but as fun reading – not just for lesson time. Anyway, Phin was intrigued by the book so I thought to try him out. We are on lesson 12 or so and he is doing VERY well. He isn’t bursting with pride over his accomplishments. He is kind of like, “Yeah… I’m reading. No big deal. I’m the man.” The easy step-by-step progression builds his confidence… and my patience.

Liam is teething – I think. Cutting some molars. This is coinciding with a nasty little cold so he is pretty miserable… but still cute as ever. Especially when he valiantly flashes his “I’m happy” smile, even though he is sad and snotty. We’re getting extra cuddle time and extra book reading.

Lilly is a gem. She is quite intrigued by finger food (peas, for now). She completely adores Abigail, grinning at her with that million-dollar toothless grin. I think she is teething, too, but it isn’t bothering her a bit.

The Carpenter and I are talking of gardens. We’d love to try our hands at a small one. Personally, I’m hoping that my sister-in-law, Lacey, will loan me one of her green thumbs. I think she has about 12 or 15, so she could spare one for me. I want to do potatoes, a salad garden, some tomatoes, cukes and peppers, ONE zucchini plant, maybe some winter squash, some herbs, and a whole bunch of swiss chard – my absolute favorite. We shall see, we shall see!!!

First, we need to get rid of the snow…