Thursday, December 21, 2006

The First Day of Winter

The calendar proclaims (rather boldly) that today begins the first day of winter....the shortest day of the year, and the *coldest* weather? Today we are told we will be reaching into the 40's. I do NOT live in the Carolinas for pity's sake!

Yesterday, as I was walking around the house, something caught my eye....the poor daffodils have obviously mistaken the warm weather as the heralding of SPRING, and have sent up beautiful green shoots!
As I closely observed the garden, I also saw that the Columbines were tricked as well by this freakish weather we are experiencing! Cruel, I tell you...pitifully cruel!


We went out into the amazing world of holiday retail yesterday afternoon. I was nearly fearful at what we might find, but instead of crazed shoppers with eyes glazed, frantically digging through merchandise, I was surprised to find many civil, smiling faces!

I had to run to the post office to ship a box and add some postage to a Christmas card filled with images of our Murphy...I just KNEW that the breeder would love to see how the little fellow has grown into such a charming young man! She only lives about three hours from here, so I am sure the card will reach its destination in good time! The box was for a friend. I had made her some soap specifically for her, but getting the box to the post office was so hard! I always send out UPS, as it is much easier, but this box was light, and needed to be sent postal. The worker there was apologizing that the box might not reach its destination in time for Chrsitmas. I assured her that was OK, but she suddenly smiled and told me that many post offices hire extra workers to help push through express and priority boxes at the last minute. Perhaps the box MIGHT get there before Christmas! Either way, it was refreshing to see someone who was so concerned!

As we spent time running around, it was obvious that Michelle was not feeling well. She had awakened with a cough and sore throat yesterday morning, and it was making her slow down. She and I sat in the truck while Ben and Mark shopped....at one point, she was so chilly, I covered her with a blanket, and she fell asleep for a little while as I tuned in the radio to some "Traditional Holiday" music. The dogs were up front with me, and it was so cozy! The darkness had set in, and it was rather fun watching shoppers hustle along with their packages.

When we arrived home, we put things away, and Ben and Mark stayed outside for some time. I thought perhaps they were out in the garage, planning a project or fixing something. After about half an hour, Ben came in the house and asked me to come outside. He and Mark had picked up some multicolored net lights, and Ben decorated our two Dwarf Alberta Spruces! They are so pretty. I am a TOTAL nut when it comes to Christmas lights. If I had my way, I would spend hours, days...driving about, looking at the lights!
After our busy day, we came inside and Ben turned on the television. TNT happened to be on, and of all things! A Christmas Carol happened to be playing. Funny! I had bought a small paperback of this work yesterday at Border's! We watched this version, circa 1999, and once again, enjoyed it. We had watched the Muppet version the previous night. I will never tire of this classic....

And, as Tiny Tim exhorted, "God Bless us, everyone!"

3 comments:

Carly B said...

Your poor little plants...will they be okay when the weather gets cold and the snow falls on them? My MIL had something bloom in the middle of winter last year. Poor confused plants!

C

Becky said...

I have a pot of daffodils outside that are all up about two inches too!
My sister has baby Giant Impatiens up too, it's bizarre!

Denise in PA said...

My flowers are all doing wierd things too! This weather is unbelieveable! We got a bit of snow the day after christmas...but nothing major...it's long gone now...raining, pouring! I hate rain and mud...but I'm thinking if it were snow we'd be snowed in for the rest of the month! LOL