“They talked on into the early morning, the high, pale cast of light in the windows, and they did not think of leaving.”
Yesterday it rained all day and into the evening. Much of the snow is gone and whatever is left is sad-looking, beaten down and dirty. A whole section of my backyard has reappeared, and in the front I can even see sections of my lawn on both sides of the house. The first things I saw when I went to get the papers were the white buds of the snowdrops by the steps. That made me glad. I know now the green shoots survived winter’s onslaught. Now they can thrive with the coming of spring.
I would have said today is cold, but it is actually 40˚. The chill is from the dampness. Nothing seems to dry. The rain has left the streets still wet and the above freezing temperature is melting the snow. Water is everywhere. The giant mounds on the sides of my street are shrinking, and the water from the melting snow is rolling downhill. There are no sewers so the water rolls until the hill ends and then it puddles.
My house seems coziest in the daytime darkness. I am warm and comfortable. I have plugged in the different strands of lights so the house is gently lit. The kitchen has a red glow from pepper lights. The living room has lights on branches standing in tall stoneware bottles in the corners. Small wooden houses in the dining room are lit and the light shines from their windows. The bathroom has a nightlight, a snowflake, whose season has finally passed. This room, my den, where I spend the most time has a lit lamp on the table and no other lights. It shines on the pages of my book, and that’s all I need.
At night I still like looking at the colored lights left on the deck rail and on trees in the backyard. When Gracie goes outside in the dark, she triggers her yard sensor lights. The shadows of the trees are beautiful. They stretch the width of the yard. I like to see the lights so I stand on the deck and Gracie, when she’s finished, usually joins me. We stay until the light finally goes out then we go inside the house.
Explore posts in the same categories: MusingsTags: 40˚, aboce freezing, colored lights, cozy house, green shoots, lawns reappearing, lit trees, melting snow, no sewers, pepper lights, rain, reading lamp, seashell lights, small houses with lights, snowdrop flowers
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keepthecoffeecoming.blog 
March 15, 2015 at 1:17 pm
I just braught in all the laundry I hang up to dry this morning, almost F, sunshine and windy made that possible today. I’ve cleaned my garden from all junk and dog residues 🙂 The Ussurian redberried elderberry bushes already have big buds, they never seem to learn that we still get nasty cold nights way in to late May 🙂
I still have the lights shining on the garage but it will soon be time to turn them off, it won’t take long until we have daylight long after my bedtime. I normally have one light on inthe kitchen and one in the room I’m at, the rest are turned off.
I didn’t win the lottery so I have to go to work tomorrow 🙂
Have a great day!
Christer.
March 15, 2015 at 1:40 pm
Christer,
I have done noting to day! I will do a laundry and tonight is game night at my friends’ house. I’m bringing the dessert.
The lights stay on all the time. I have a really big backyard, and the lights look great in the darkness. I have a light on here in the den on most nights. The string lights are for dark days and for company nights.
Sorry-we all should win a lottery!
March 15, 2015 at 2:05 pm
Today is still cloudy with a 10% chance of rain in the forecast. I’m deciding if it’s worth taking the car to the carwash or waiting until the rain that’s forecast for midweek passes. It used to be that you got a free car wash or a free drinking glass when you filled up your gas tank. Now you are lucky to even get a receipt. They are forecasting gas prices below two dollars a gallon by summer.
I’m surprised that the price of a barrel of crude oil has remained so low for so long. I read an article recently blaming the glut of oil on the big oil companies who are producing product in record amounts to rake in the money now. Because of hydraulic fracking and oil shale the US is nearly energy indepentant from those middle eastern dictators. I still think that we and our OPEC friends are pumping the stuff out of the ground in record amounts to help increase the economic pain on Iran and Russia. Unfortunately, the unintended consequence of low gas prices is the rise in sales of large pickup trucks and SUVs. The big three automakers are loving the record profits. In Texas nearly everyone thinks that they have a god given right to drive the largest vehicle in the neighborhood. How many condo owners really need a two ton four door pickup truck? 🙂
There is a small mound of snow in the corner of my employee’s parking lot that refuses to melt. It’s an ugly dirty little pile. I hope it’s gone by morning.
March 15, 2015 at 5:09 pm
Bob,
It is snowing right now, tiny flakes, which will amount to about an inch or two.
I remember getting the free carwash with every fill-up. I don’t think there were glasses around here, maybe when I was young and didn’t notice.
There is no increase in the numbers of SUV’s but there are may pick-up trucks. On the cape, landscaping employs more people than almost anything else plus the trucks haul shellfishing and other fishing equipment.
Now you have Nigerian oil adding to the glut. It is the world’s eighth largest exporter of crude oil. It used to ship 43% to the US but the shale oil here means less is imported.
We have many ugly piles which will now be covered and pretty for a little bit of time.
March 15, 2015 at 6:12 pm
Snowdrops are so ‘last-month’.
Cheers
March 15, 2015 at 9:21 pm
minicapt,
Right this minute it is snowing again! I laughed at your so last month!
March 16, 2015 at 11:52 am
Hi Kat,
Reading this a day later again.
It rained here yesterday. Then it was rainy snow, snowy rain and finally just snow. The dogs preferred the snow. It doesn’t soak them immediately and it doesn’t get in their ears. They have fold-over ears so I don’t know how rain gets in there but it does.
There was enough snow to pretty up the remaining snow which had gotten quite dingy. Now the sun is shining and melting is going on.
I have decorative lanterns that I use as night lights. They contain battery candles that turn on automatically at the same time every night and go off 5 hours later. I have them in strategic places and set at staggered times so I don’t have to turn on lights should I get up in the middle of the night for something. I didn’t buy them with this function in mind but because they were pretty. Turns out they were useful as well. No bad thing. 🙂
Enjoy the day.
March 16, 2015 at 12:27 pm
Hi Caryn,
It snowed in the late afternoon. Gracie doesn’t mind snow but she hates the cold. As you know, boxers are all that furry. They don’t even have puppy fur and just look like a miniature boxer when they’re little.
The sun is shining but it is still quite cold so not much melting happening. The snow did look pretty I guess, but I have to say I am well beyond any affection for snow/
I love lights and also have window candles which are always lit as they don’t have a timer. My street has no lights so my house shines brightly.
Have a great Monday!