Life With Sisters

My sister is steadily improving after her stroke and today I was able to take her out to lunch. She had to let me push her in a wheel chair, which annoyed her no end, but the home health nurse said it was that or there would be no outing. My sister said that being in a wheel chair would make her look like an old lady (she's nearly 80). The nurse replied matter-of-factly, "You are an old lady, you've had a stroke and you need to be careful for a while."

Now, my sister still refers to herself as middle-aged. I've pointed out that the phrase means being in the middle of life and I've never heard of anybody living to be 160, but I only said that to her once.

I almost ran for the door right then, but I just had to wait to see what my sister would say. (I was praying it wouldn't be "you're fired" because it took me forever to find this nurse, and she is a real gem). My sister leveled 'the look' (a freeze-the-blood-in-your-veins look that she inherited from our mother) at Shannon, who is in her thirties,blond and very pretty, and said in a sweet but deadly tone, "I had always suspected that you were Nurse Rachet masquerading as Barbie."

I held my breath, waiting for Shannon's reply. She leveled a look of her own at my sister and said, "That's right, Mrs. ---------- and don't you forget it."

Shannon and my sister just looked at each other for a moment. In that moment I was thinking how much I was going to hate looking for another nurse.

Then my sister burst out laughing and said, "Honey, don't you think it's time you called me by my first name?" Shannon laughed and said she would like that very much, and I started breathing again.

Sisters. Life is definitely better with them.

Most of the time.

Sunday Sunsets

Taken in Redlands.

Who Stole Our Winter?

Okay, roses aren't blooming up here yet...I hope. I haven't looked around further down the mountain but, honestly, I wouldn't be surprised to see something blooming down in the canyons around the 1,000 foot level because the weather has been so bizarre for the past few weeks.

Our temperatures have been in the 50's and 60's (!!!) in the daytime, with lows in the 20's at night. Beautiful clear sky, no rain, no snow.

I hate this kind of weather. Most people are loving it, and they look at me like I'm a spawn of Satan or something when I say I want winter weather.

Winter is my favorite season and I want it back! So please, whoever stole Southern California's winter weather (yes, we really do have winter in So Cal), give it back, give it back right now!

The Moon Owl

 

A few nights ago I could not entice sleep to stay with me, so I wrapped up warmly in my wool cloak and went for a solitary walk through a forest enchanted by moonlight and snow. Each cedar and pine bough was draped with a heavy cloak of glittering white, while the dogwoods and oaks were elegantly bare of leaf, each branch piped with a topping of moon-silvered snow, some bejeweled by icicles.

The path turned and I walked under a canopy of entwined cedar branches, their green darkened to onyx by the night.  Although dark, the snow covered path glowed with a dim light, faintly emerald tinted, as though I were walking on pale sand at the bottom of a green southern sea illuminated by moonlight.

The path takes another turn and I’m at the edge of a small meadow, the snow deep, unmarked, glittering. Looking up, I see the stars twinkling coldly in the vast indifference of the sky. A breeze, moving slowly through the frigid air, takes snow crystals from the trees and scatters scarves of diamond dust across the meadow.

And then, as if it were following the swirling snow scarves, a Great Horned Owl glides silently out of the dark forest. Enthralled, I watch as it sails without a sound across the meadow. Whitened and silvered by moonlight and starlight, it seems to be a winter magic conjured by moon, stars, and snow. Only its shadow, a hard-edged pool of unforgiving darkness, proves that it is real.

Long after the owl has vanished, I stand in awe-struck wonder, caught fast in the crystal enchantment of the night.

It is not until the ice-filled, needle tipped hand of the rising wind caresses my cheek that I step back on to the path and let it lead me around the meadow and down through the moon-dappled, snow-sparkled forest to my cottage. I anticipate with gratitude the comfort of drinking a cup of hot chocolate by a warm hearth. As I open the door and step into the fire-lit coziness of my cottage, I turn back to the night and savor its enchantment for a moment longer.  Then slowly, regretfully, I close the door on the magic night, the stars and the Moon Owl.

Coming Back Into the Light

This past Christmas was a rather dark one for our family. My sister had a stroke on December 22, and one of my nieces, who lives in Georgia, was in a car crash on December 23. Thank goodness both are going to be all right.

I took the picture above on the morning of December 28 as I was driving home. I had learned the night before that my sister could come home as early as January 10th, as long as she has a full-time nurse for several months, so I am trying to arrange that.

I got a phone call around 2 a.m. on the 28 that my niece would be released from the hospital on the 29th, and she is now at home and doing very well.

As I started up the mountain early on the 28 dawn was just barely beginning. The higher up the mountain I drove, the more beautiful the sunrise became. I felt it was an affirmation that my family was coming back from the darkness, coming back into the light.

A Soggy Solstice

We've received 17 inches of rain in these mountains in the past three days. The biggest of the three storms is supposed to arrive late tonight, with up to 2 inches of rain an hour falling. That's a LOT OF RAIN. Along with all that rain and snow there will be wind gusts of 65 miles per hour.




Roads are closed all over the mountains, with several closures on Hwy 18, the main road to access most of the mountain communities. The pictures below were not taken by me because I'm just not going out in this mess. (I deal much better with snow than rain). I got them from the Internet, from the sites http://www.rimoftheworld.net/ and http://www.abc7.com/

The photo above is Hwy 18 (Michael P. Neufeld, photographer). This is really dangerous since there is roughly a 1,000 foot drop beyond the guardrail.

This is the only road in to, and out of, Forest Falls. The people who live there aren't going anywhere for a while...

I have a feeling a lot of us won't be going anywhere for a while!

Mid-December Magic

There are frost flowers blooming tonight, the waxing gibbous moon adding her magic to the ephemeral magic of the Frost Faeries.

Making Merry in Mouseford Falls

Well, of course they're making merry! They're all ready for Christmas. Trees decorated, presents wrapped and placed under said trees, houses decorated, baking done, perfect snowfall, children happily skating and sledding, carolers singing in beautiful harmony, and Santa poised to make his big entry.


But...that's not quite the way it is in my world. The ground is mostly bare, it's really foggy, no snow in the forecast (unless one happens to live above 8,000 feet, which I do not), none of my presents are wrapped, my baking is only about one-quarter done, and MY Santa (also known as my husband) fell off the roof yesterday!! Thankfully he was only up on the porch roof, and not the third story roof, so he got off with only scrapes, bruises, and a wife who had a near-miss with cardiac arrest.


Oh, and my tree? Well, it's only partially decorated, thanks to this little person:

Darling Miss Rita Mae MoonSparkle. However, I've recently found out her real name is Rita Mae the Tree Terminator. In the photo above, she is actually chewing on the tree branch and every time I put an ornament on the tree she takes it off and HIDES IT UNDER THE COUCH!!!

And not a caroler in sight. Only the editor of the local newspaper, who showed up dressed as Santa. Don't ask.

I See You

This Red Tailed Hawk is letting me know that he (or she...who can tell?) sees me.

I think it might actually be posing! "OK, left profile."

"Now, right profile. Am I not a gorgeous bird?"

Well yes you are, but I think you might also be the reason I haven't seen very many birds at my feeders lately.

Sculpting and Sniffling

Today the high temp is 50 F! The snow is almost all gone, although a little more is predicted for Sunday and Monday. But down by the creek, on the north side which is shaded even in summer and just plain dark for most of the day at this time of year, the trees are still wearing their ice jewels. If you click on this picture to enlarge it, you can see how the wind has sculpted the ice on each individual needle into an interesting shape. Some of the wind's sculptures are round, some are knife blade thin, some are wavy. I wonder if the wind has as much fun sculpting as I do when I'm making a painting?

I'm also wondering if the crazy up and down temperatures are responsible for this darn head cold I've been battling for 22 DAYS now. It's the worst head cold I've had in years, and it just won't go away! Grrrrr...

Wordless Wednesday - Walking on Water

It's All Relative

All these gorgeous leaves are gone now. Winter, even though it won't officially arrive until December 21st, is holding us firmly in its ice gloved hand.

These two Band Tailed Pigeons weren't bothered by the small amount of snow (4 or 5 inches instead of the foot of snow the weather people had predicted) we received last week. What was bothering them was the lack of peanuts on the feeding tray. The look they're giving me most definitely says, "WELL? What are you waiting for? Get those peanuts out here NOW!"

The temperatures have been unseasonably cold, with highs for the past several days only reaching the low 20's Fahrenheit (-6 to -3 Celsius) and low temperatures dropping to as low as 4 degrees below zero (-20 Celsius). Add 30 mile an hour winds to those temperatures and that equals BRRRRRRR!

This morning when I opened the door to go battle the ice on the animals' water bowls I was pleasantly surprised by how warm it felt. I went back inside and opened a few windows to let the fresh air into the house and happened to glance at the thermometer on my way outside again.

The temperature was 39 degrees Fahrenheit (3 Celsius).

I guess it's all relative...

Thanksgiving Table

This is what the table looked like yesterday (Thanksgiving).

For once, I remembered to take some pictures before we sat down

to eat our feast. Usually I'm rushing around so much I forget, but this

year we were only four; my husband, my sister, my friend Kathleen, and myself.   Different, but nice nonetheless...

Keeping Memories

This is the roasting pan that belonged to my grandmother, then my mother and now me. It is incredibly heavy, and even though the outside enameling has a few chips here and there, it still works great. It is the pan that roasts our Thanksgiving and Christmas turkeys every year. It's certainly not the most valuable thing they left me, but it is one of the most treasured because it holds so many memories. Just think of the tales it could tell if it could speak. The kitchens, full of various female relatives helping with the cooking, children underfoot, and the roasting pan sitting there listening to everything that was said. Oh, my.

Every time I lift it to put it in the oven I think of my grandmother, using it to roast a turkey in a wood burning stove as a young married woman, later using, as she described them, "one of them newfangled gas things that might could blow us to Kingdom Come any minute," and my mother, who cooked with stoves pretty similar to the ones of today.

I have several serious health issues, but when I lift that pan, which usually has a 25 pound turkey in it, it seems light. I wonder if that is because... just maybe...my grandma and mama are right there lifting it with me?

I like to think so.

Chasing the Colors

I took this photo around the first of November. I just cannot get enough of Autumn's colors when they're showing off in the late afternoon, or early morning sun. The light is so fleeting, and shooting locations are so numerous, that I spend as much time as I can, over a space of several weeks, chasing the colors down the mountain.

Autumn first appears the last week of September or the first week of October in and around Big Bear, starting at the 7,500 foot altitude.

The Big Bear Valley doesn't have a lot of indigenous trees that turn really bright colors, since mostly pines grow at that altitude. Most trees that do show color, like the ones in the photo above, have been planted and maintained by residents and businesses.

By mid-November I finish up down around Lake Silverwood, at an altitude of a little over 3,000 feet, which doesn't have a lot of trees or plants that are colorful either, and not many pines or cedars. (There used to be a lot of Douglas Firs and Western Red Cedars, but they burned in the devastating 2003 fires). However, there is still beauty to be captured in the sere, faded grasses and seed heads, along with the occasional oak tree.

I feel so lucky to be able to prolong Autumn by following her down through the altitude changes. By doing that, I'm able to see her colors for almost 6 weeks!

Sunday Sunsets - A World Away

Photo taken November 10, 2010, near Redlands, CA


Well, actually this is only a 45 minute drive from the mountains that I live in, but in terms of climate, vegetation, pollution, terrain, crime and a vast difference in population numbers, it may as well be a world away! Every time I drive down from the mountains, it makes me aware of what a lovely, fragile little bubble we who are fortunate enough to live up here inhabit.

Switching Seasons

We've been getting torrents of rain, sleet, hail, and snow all last night and all day today. Hooray! Fire season is OVER! But, just to be on the safe side, I'm knocking on wood anyway. With Climate Change unchecked, and unlikely to be so, who knows what the weather will do?

We're supposed to get nearly a foot of snow tomorrow - or did the weather man say Sunday? I just saw the report a little over an hour ago, you'd think I could remember! Oh, well. I'm not going to be too hard on myself because I've spent the last hour trudging back and forth from the cottage to the storage/potting shed. Husband and I have been bringing in Christmas decorations. Usually I leave the autumn things up until after Thanksgiving in the dining room and kitchen and just get the living room decorated for Christmas, but this year H said he didn't feel like doing it in two shifts, so...

I'm glad I collected a lot of colorful leaves before this storm came in, and I still have some real pumpkins and gourds which I rescued from him just before he put them in the trash. At least I can make a harvest-themed centerpiece for the table. And I have the autumn dinnerware...oh, no. I hope he didn't swap it out for the Christmas china!

Ahhh...caught him just in time!

Faeries Friday - Fleur

In the warm months, Fleur lives high up in the Dogwood tree outside my studio. Obviously, this photo was taken in the summer. Several days ago, I moved all of the Faeries that were outside into my studio for the winter...except for Fleur. I forgot about her! She's pretty ticked at me, and who could blame her?

My husband is also ticked; it's starting to rain here and I remembered that I hadn't brought her in when I was looking for a picture to post for 'Faeries Friday.' He just spent 15 minutes out in the rain, in the dark, high up on a ladder rescuing Fleur. I can't blame him for being ticked at me, either; but I have a feeling he'll get over it far faster than Fleur will, thanks to the mug of hot tea, a plate of fresh baked cookies and lavish gratitude and praise.

None of these things would work with Fleur, although I did apologize profusely as I was drying her off. So I expect there will be Faerie mischief going on in my studio for several weeks. Because, even though they seem to be little statues, everyone who knows anything about Faeries know they come to life when we're not looking!

Good Idea? Bad Idea?

I found this picture on a magazine web site (I think maybe it was Country Living). Cute idea, huh? Although I don't think the birds would think so, since they're used to having water in their birdbaths! Maybe they'd let me borrow just one to put next to the doorway on Thanksgiving. They have eleven others to drink from, plus the creek...

If there are no postings from me after Thanksgiving, you'll know they took offence to me 'stealing' one of their birdbaths and decided to behave like the birds in the famous Hitchcock movie. Ha. Like they'd kill their source of peanuts and suet cakes. They wouldn't...would they???

Wordless Wednesday - Resting

Changes

I never tire of just sitting and watching how the sun illuminates and changes the look of the forest as it moves across the sky. In all seasons, the shifting, changing light can make me see familiar things in a brand new way, but I think this effect might be at its most spectacular in autumn. This tree is bare now, the leaves strewn carelessly here and there by the wind. But I think she knows that, after a brief sleep, her glory will return in the spring when she is covered in hundreds of creamy pearl white blossoms, then the emerald leaves of summer and then, once again, the ephemeral citrine, peridot, topaz and ruby jewels of autumn.

Delicious Autumn

"Delicious Autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking successive autumns." George Eliot

I took this on a foggy-day walk through the woods. We've had so many foggy, even rainy, days this autumn.  I'm hoping this weather is just a preview of a wet, snowy winter!

Little Gifts

I found these artfully arranged by the side of the path while walking to my studio this morning. Little gifts like this from Mother Nature always brighten my day!

It felt so good to get back into my studio. I've been driving up and down the 'hill' (mountain) to Redlands for the past several days to take my sister to various appointments. It's a lovely town, full of old Victorian houses and charming Craftsmen bungalows, but it's 45 miles (one way) from my home. I used think nothing of making the 90 mile round trip five days a week for work, and then getting a couple hours of painting done when I got home, but that was back when I was in my twenties. Several decades do make a difference in one's stamina. (And not for the better, either, darn it). That's a little 'gift' that I could do without!