pink ice

Sometimes driving to work on two-lane Meridian Road I'm glad no cars are around me because I am mesmerized by Nature. -15 F (-26 C) temps put hoar frost on every twig this morning. With the rising sun pinking up the frosting and clouds, I thanked my lucky cars - I mean stars - to be living in a winter wonderland.

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disappointment

I drove to the store for birdseed - black oiler sunflower seeds to attract cardinals, and wild bird seed for whatever other birds might be around. I brushed eight inches of snow off the bench in the middle of the meadow and scattered birdseed on and around it.

I set up Don's little deer blind tent near the bench (the red camouflage thing you can't see, above), mounted the camera on the tripod inside, opened the zipper window enough for the camera lens to stick out, focused it on the small tree behind the bench, and waited. I was going to get some stellar close-ups with my new zoom lens of cardinals, or something. I sat on a chair inside, layered in warm clothes and a fleece blanket wrapped around my legs. Oh, and I brought a banana, Oreo cookies and Gatorade. As I say, I waited for the sweet birdies that were sure to light on the pile of seeds for a mid-winter treat. Free food on display! 

Below is the view I could see out of the tiny opening, of the poplars behind the pond. Occasionally clumps of snow fell from the trees, and I jumped (erm, I mean I would have jumped if I'd been moving) thinking a bird had knocked off the snow. But it was only the sun trying to warm things up a bit that made the snow shift off branches. It was around 17 F (-8 C).

If I had the other three flaps of the tent open (I didn't since I wanted to keep the wind out), I'd see this view to the left - the 15-foot sumac and Don's barn. The as-yet-unpainted corner door in the lower left hiding behind the sumac is the door to the chicken coop. Strange how the snow had slid off the black roof in three patches:

. . . this view to my right, of the deer's piney bedroom:

. . . and this view of the neighbor's black walnuts out the back:

In an hour and a half of sitting there, trying not to move or make a sound, I saw birds but only at a distance. They didn't even discover the birdseed. Well, it was a new spot for it.

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I started shivering, and so I decided to go in. I'll try again. As Peter said when I came in chilled and disappointed, the TV series Planet Earth took five years to film 11 episodes. They sometimes waited and watched hundreds of hours resulting in one video clip.
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I need patience. And I need to develop an expectation in the birds that seed will be at this spot consistently. If I don't disappoint them, maybe they won't disappoint me.-

I processed the image above at picnik.com with the lomo filter.

For breathtaking snow photographs, please visit Vincent Munier's site. His book White Nature has inspired me to work on snow photography.

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cook's night off

Peter is home for a break between his band's cruise ship gigs. He heads back out soon.

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How nice after the holiday busy-ness that he and his buddy Josh - his friend since 4th grade - wanted to buy groceries and make us Mexican pizza.

While I watched with the camera, became ravenous with the smell of Mexican seasoning and also made guacamole, I was thinking, "One pizza? There are four of us, and three are guys." So I quietly resolved to fill up on chips and guacamole if I was still hungry after my portion of pizza.

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They used one of the Boboli-type thin crusts (they're already baked and packaged in the store), ground beef sauteed with taco seasoning (if you don't have packets at the store, here's a recipe for it), vegetarian refried beans (no lard), and cheese, black olives, peppers and tomatoes, all on Josh's cool holey pizza pan that lets air circulate and make the crust crispy. Bake at 400° F for just under 20 minutes.

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So we each ooohed and aaahed while we served up our 1/4 of the pizza, dolloped on the sour cream, guac and salsa, and sat down. I dug in and after 2/3 of my piece I was so stuffed I had to push my plate away and took the rest to work for lunch the next day. The boys all felt just right after one piece.

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I'd like to get one of these high tech pizza pans for "cripsy crust," as somebody in my family used to say. Josh forgot to forget it and leave it.

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Margaritas were the perfect light accompaniment.


I ran a cut lime around the lip of my glass and dipped it in coarse salt for the photo, but we all prefer them without salt since it makes the drink too rich. Besides, salt ain't so good for you. Not that we were terribly worried about that.

Here's the guacamole recipe I use if you're interested, adapted slightly from one at Cooks Illustrated. (I can't link the actual recipe because you need a subscription, sorry.) I used four avacados for four people (yes, we are pigs).

guacamole

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1 ripe avacado

1-2 tablespoons lime juice

salt to taste - remember chips are salty

1 garlic clove, crushed

chopped cilantro leaves to taste

(*cilantro in the Western Hemisphere is the same as coriander in the Eastern Hemisphere, though when you think of cilantro you tend to think of leaves and when you think of coriander you tend to think of the dried seeds)

chopped red onion, optional

chopped tomato, optional

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Mush ingredients together with a fork to your desired consistency. I like it chunky, so I mush one half and cube the other half by slicing cubes right in the avacado shell, then scoop it out. Careful not to poke your finger with the knife through the shell.

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*This used to be me: I hate cilantro.com, then I was converted through one very delicious salad dressing.

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White House Victory Garden

Over at Slow Food Nation I found this Eat the View campaign to get the Obamas to model something good for the nation: devote a portion of the White House grounds to an organic edible garden. You can vote for it here:

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for you, for me, for all of us

Can’t take my eyes off of you

I follow you, like you are a woodsy deer, and I am your tail.
There is no movement I do not feel and see, for I and my eyes are fixed on you,
the way these shiny black stones are fixed in the path’s snow.
With each leap over a log, each delicate side-step around a foot-sized hole I can’t see, with each hand stroke of a low branch held until I am clear,
I am one with your movement - protected, because you are ahead of me.
The scratches that scar your face, don’t scar mine.

As Leonard Cohen’s hunchback says, you say:
Your pain is the shadow of my wound.

Who is becoming my tail?
And what follower is bearing the shadow of my wound?

We are all. We are one.

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green-eyed lady

When my edges feel too rough.

When complications of the human exchange seem beyond my ability to maneuver.

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When I need to cool down.

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When I need to remember that circumstances are not what give, or take away, peace.

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When I need to close my eyes and feel Nature's riches.

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My elegant green-eyed goddess barncat comes to the rescue.

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She looks into my eyes.

She eliminates Time, and Distance, and Separateness.

She says, "I love you."

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And I say, "I love you too."

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young year, old dog

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I like the way 2009 is starting.

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Against my wishes, I learned a new game, Settlers of Catan. Theoretically, I think board games are good for developing young minds to think, and plan strategies. But not the ones I grew up with: Chutes and Ladders, Chinese Checkers and Sorry, which are just for fun - all that slipping and sliding and stealing. I missed developing thinking skills partly because I didn't play strategy games like Monopoly and Chess. So now, at age 52, learning a new game feels like going ice fishing with nothing but a sewing needle to chip through the ice.

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Christmas week I felt unsociable avoiding Catan, but after all, only 4 could play, and I was a 5th wheel. Too bad, so sad. But this week, my sister Ginnie is here (YAY!), Lesley and Brian are gone (BOO!), and there are exactly four of us. Rats. No more excuses. So the other night I fought the delicious temptation to go to bed and sleep at 7:30 (I'm becoming my mother) and at around 7:45 sat down at the kitchen table to learn the intricacies of Catan, feeling dull and resistant. Why do games have to be part of holiday family time?

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About a half hour into game setup and Peter's lyrical instructions, I started waking up. Suddenly it was 9pm, the game was rolling, and I was eager to build settlements and buy roads. I've lost count of how many times we've played Catan since then. I am currently fantasizing how to set up the board differently to get more ore and wool.-

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Today is January 2nd and I've learned something new that I didn't want to one little bit. It's a good way to start the year. Maybe next time Don explains how something like electricity works I'll have a crochet hook for chipping through the thick ice of my brain.

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