Tag: Winter
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Harvesting Ice
Today the sun came out, the temperature rose, and the snow began to melt. With work progressing in the icehouse my mind drifted to the days when this building would have been bustling with activity, teams of horses hauling loads of ice from the lake for storage. I imagined the bittersweet emotions that must have…
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Cross-Country Skiing
What is the cross-country skiing equivalent of schussing down a powdery piste? If it exists — some etymologically Nordic, onomatopoeicly swooshy reference for scissoring smoothly across a snowy meadow or through a snowy forrest — I could sneak it into today’s outing. But I’d be waxing poetic. Projecting fantasy onto a considerably stickier cross-country skiing…
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Another Nival Homecoming
Back for anothernival homecoming.Fluttering flurriesobscuring sunset,muting day to night, ground mounding, roundingwith fresh fallen snow.The sound of no sound,snowflakes silencing,softening contours,and settling scores.Slumber’s siren songswaddled in silver,swirling and whirling,mesmerizing me,mesmerizing usuntil tomorrow. Nival?!?! There aren’t too many opportunities to nudge “nival” into conversation even in this northern wonderland. But as a language romantic often employing…
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Ruffed Grouse
The male ruffed grouse in the photo above was documented on a Rosslyn wildlife camera about a year ago. Fancy fowl! And the two images below were recorded a few weeks ago. Rosslyn’s backlands are fortunately flush with ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus), a welcome reminder that wildlife gravitates — as if by some primal sense…
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Frosty Ferrying into Rosslyn
Heck of a homecoming my frosty ferry ride into Essex two weeks ago on January 25. Damp-cold. Socked in. Snowing. I was dropping in for team time, scope shuffle, timeline tuneup, perspective pivot, and a revitalizing dose of laughter with friends. Team Time As I’ve often touted, teamwork is the first, second, and third priority…
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Groundhog Day: Punxsutawney Phil Foresees More Winter
Did Punxsutawney Phil see his shadow? Is spring around the corner? Are we headed into six more weeks of winter? In this high tech era of satellites forecasting weather from beyond the beyond, intricate algorithms gobbling gargantuan data sets, and media channels dedicated to analyzing and communicating meteorological mysteries in real time, we still get…
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Snow Falling on Homecoming
Today’s ferry ride from Charlotte to Essex — with snow falling on homecoming — tasted bittersweet if vaguely familiar. There was a wellspring of anticipation upon returning to inspect firsthand the team’s progress on the icehouse rehab, boathouse gangway, and some painting and tiling maintenance inside our home. There was also the poignant pique of…
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Makeshift Workshop in Storage Container
We’ve dealt with some unique challenges during Rosslyn’s icehouse rehab, and today’s post provides an inside glimpse into one of the workaround. The icehouse is a small building offering limited workspace. And while we’ve been able to take advantage of the carriage barn for workflows that aren’t adversely impacted by the cold, priming and painting…
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Epiphany on Epiphany: Shirley Bacot Shamel Day
Susan chuckled this morning after reminding me that her family hadn’t celebrated Epiphany when she was growing. I had reminded her that my family had, and for some reason she considers it slightly droll. It’s true that we did celebrate some holidays that my peers did not. I’m not certain why. In addition to Epiphany,…
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Midwinter Amaryllis
I associate amaryllis with the winter holidays. An exotic flower for us, gifted when we’re fortunate, and occupying a central and highly visible perch, usually in the kitchen. Not sure why the kitchen except that there’s water handy, and life revolves around the kitchen this time of year, so the progress — from voluminous bulb…
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All Zipped Up: ZIP System Installation Complete
As it turns out, the snow-blizzard-cum-bomb-cyclone that hepped up meteorologists and newscasters, snarled traffic across the country, and added a decidedly wintery twist to the Christmas holiday for many across the country impacted us two totally opposite ways, one good, the other bad. Ever the optimist, I’ll launch with the glorious news: the icehouse rehabilitation…
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Upcycled Christmas Gifts
What wintery wonders shall I share with you today? How about a celebration (and showcase) of upcycled Christmas gifts dreamed into existence by three allstar members of our icehouse rehab team? Pam, Hroth, and Tony stopped Susan and me in our just-barely-post-winter-solstice tracks with an early Christmas gift (or three) that exemplify the apex of…