I stood out in the snow and cried

It's snowing here in the northeast.  Who's been dreaming of a white Halloween?  Which one of you was it?  Well, it's come true.

Pumpkin seeds roasting on an open fire...

Doesn't have quite the same ring to it, eh?

The snow will probably all be gone by tomorrow, but it is beautiful to look at.  I love the snow.  I love watching it fall.  It is very soothing.  Like watching fish swim, or horses graze out in the fields, or sun shining on your face.  Yes, watching snow fall makes me smile, just as much as that first sun-shiny day after a bitter cold winter.  Is it because I am a gemini?  I like winter and summer.  Fall and spring.  Snow and sunshine.

Today was a grey, miserable day.  It rained all day long.  We spent our day running errands and dodging raindrops and loafing on the sofa watching TV.  Maybe it wasn't so grey and miserable.  But, in terms of weather, it was grey and miserable.  And then, just a few minutes ago I looked out and saw snow.  Actual snow flakes falling from the sky.  It was magical.  I ran outside and looked up.  It was beautiful.  And, then I looked over at Hoss' tree.  Yes, he has a tree.  Or, had...  He passed away a few weeks ago.  I miss him every day.  I look at Hoss' tree and it makes me smile and cry at the same time.  I guess that is the definition of bittersweet.  Whenever Hoss was out back and wanted to relax he could always be found lounging under his tree.  I think he liked the shade of it on a warmer day and the soft buzzing of bees gathering pollen was probably soothing to him.

As I looked up in the sky and watched the snow flakes come down and felt the coldness of them melt on my face and land on my hair... in that moment I knew Hoss was in heaven.  Who else would be sending me down gorgeous snow flakes this early in the season?  Hoss was hanging out with St. Francis and was thinking of us.  He wanted to let us know that that he was thinking of us.  I felt him all around me.

Snow was Hoss' absolute favorite.  Just as much as he liked to lounge outside under his tree on a sunny day he loved to lie outside in a blizzard and chill.  Hoss was the king of chillaxing.

We could all learn a thing or two from a St. Bernard.

I anticipate this winter being quite a bittersweet one.  And, so, I stood out in the snow, turned my face up to the falling snowflakes, and cried.


I love you my darling.

I miss you.

What did you do this summer?

Oh, us?  Well, thank you for asking.  Let's see...

Oh, yes, we experienced an earthquake.  That was quite a day.  I thought a tree was falling on our house and we were all going to get squished so I gathered my chickens and ran outside.  My friend, Jen, who is a SoCal native (that's SOuthern CALifornia for us cool people) told me that this indeed is the wrong thing to do in an earthquake.  As she is a SoCal native (again, we're cool) she has experienced a few earthquakes and told me that I should have gone under a sturdy table, or in a doorway, etc...  I am sure you've heard all of these before.  However, being that I am an East Coast native (or, EaCo since I'm cool--right?  That's something that we all say?  No?  hmm... still cool though ;)) I have never experienced an earthquake, but have experienced trees falling over so I ran outside to save myself from being squashed by the tree that I am still sure was going to fall on our house.

Got it?

Let's see, what else did we do... Oh yes!  Survived a hurricane.  You may have heard of Irene?  Now, I use the term 'survived' very loosely.  We have a backup generator and our power only went out for a few hours so we were much more fortunate than some homes and families.  Besides torrential downpours, a few tornado warnings and gusty winds, we fared just fine.  Our county has been declared a disaster area, but thanks be to God, we do not need any assistance from FEMA.

So, we had a memorable summer.  This past August, I have been told, was the second wettest August on record.  So, with all the rain and destroying winds, my poor tomato plants are not doing too well.  They took a thrashing, and well, I just don't want to talk about it.  So much for my homemade salsa with tomatoes from MY garden.  There's always next year--I hope!

I will leave you with one image, and then we are not to speak of my tomatoes anymore.  Too sad...

EaCo represent!