We had a bit of snow last night, under an inch. Right now it is melting as it is 38°. The blue sky and the cloudy sky are taking turns. The weatherman calls it partly cloudy. I lean more toward the sun.

The only remains of Christmas are the trees. The dining room tree, a scrub pine, is still here upstairs because it is awkward to carry down to the cellar where it stays up and decorated. The tree is in two parts so I have to put one hand on each part when I take it down the stairs to the cellar. I go slowly, quite slowly. Stairs and I have a contentious relationship. The living room tree is in its plastic tree bag in the middle of the room. It is heavy to carry. I’ll give it a go today and then leave it upright in the yard so the birds can have a bit of shelter. 

When I was a kid, I loved to watch the snow fall. I wasn’t partial to big, wet flakes as I knew they wouldn’t last long. They carried no hope for a snow day. It was the smaller flakes which carried expectations. I remember watching the snow from the front picture window. The flakes were lit by the streetlight on the sidewalk in the front of my house. Sometimes the wind was strong enough to slant the flakes sideways. I’d keep checking to see if the snow was accumulating. When the sidewalks and the street disappeared, I was hopeful. The next morning, if the snow had been heavy and constant, we’d listen for the no school code from the fire department alarm. 

Geography was a favorite subject. I dreamed of seeing all those places in real life, and I was lucky. I got to see many. My favorite, of course, is Africa. How could it not be? It was exotic and wonderful. It was my home for two years, and I loved every day. The camel ride in the Sahara is high on the list. I wasn’t delighted when the camel took off on me, and I nearly fell off, but now it is a great story, even a bit dramatic. Standing on the Equator in each hemisphere is on the list. I saw the Andes before I saw the Rocky Mountains. On Corcovado in Rio I stood below the statue of Christ. I remembered the picture in my geography book.

Europe too is memorable but describing my favorite places would take more than a few musings. I’ll save that for a slow day when my muses have taken an unauthorized hiatus. 

Uke is back this week with practice, a lesson and a concert on Friday. The book for February is love songs of the 60’s, one of my favorite books. I’ll wear a heart sweatshirt, my heart fascinator and red Chuck Taylor high tops. 

Finally, my dance card is no longer empty.

This entry was posted on February 3, 2025 at 2:20 pm and is filed under Musings. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.