FULL BLAST WINTER

With winter in full blast, I become acutely aware of the wind chill factor. Air blowing down from the Arctic decreases the already low temperature to tundra-like conditions. Even though I purposely left a small stand of white pines and hemlocks to protect the house from the prevailing northwesterlies, I can sometimes hear the wind whistling around the corners of the house.

Lying in my cozy bed at night, i hear the deepest wind chime bonging--a reminder to watch the air moving in my own body. Breathing in. Breathing out.

 

Lamb & Lion

March came in like a lamb--all misty, drizzling, warmish, and feeling like spring. But the night of March 1, the winds began to blow, the temperatures dropped below freezing, which, due to wind chill, felt frigid.

Here is our challenge: to speak softly and gently when the situation warrants. And to speak like a lion when needed. Could we even speak like a lion and still have the heart of a lamb?

Now, and for the foreseeable future is the time to speak up, to speak out. Speak like a lion when necessary. And remember your lamb's heart.

Minus Two with a Freight Train of Wind

Baby, it's c-o-l-d out there. Minus two with a freight train of wind bringing the wind chill down to minus 27. I can hear the wind howling around the corners of the house, trying to get in. I'm wearing my hat and scarf inside the house

The finches try to turn themselves into little round balls, as they stand on one foot and then the other, waiting their turn at the bird feeder. A gray squirrel is vacuuming as many sunflower seeds as he can into his mouth, and the little birds don't dare come too close.

 It's Winter Carnival week in town, with all sorts of winter activities planned, including the only official ski jumping contest in the country.

We can celebrate the cold or we can complain. Which one causes less stress?

Below Zero

It's 10 below zero on this beautiful, cloud-strewn morning. The birds at the bird feeder have fluffed their feathers so that they look like round balls instead of sleek birds. (And what wind chill do they feel when they fly through the already wind-chilled air?)

Minus ten delineates zone 4 from zone 5. If i buy plants that are hardy in zone 5, that means they'll survive down to -10 degrees. That's today.

I try to buy zone 4 plants that are hardy down to -20. Then i can be pretty sure they will survive the winter.

These very cold temperatures can also have an effect on invasives of all kinds, which have been creeping northward as our climate warms. Lyme ticks are not as prevalent in the northern part of the state, which is mostly zone 4, but also zone 3, and even zone 2 on the mountain tops.

Tree pests such as the hemlock wooly adelgid, which will eventually wipe out our hemlock tree population, can't survive below -10. But we need several days of -10, and only this one is predicted.

We try to knock out our own bad habits by giving them the cold shoulder, but this cold-heartedness only puts them into the deep freeze of repression.

Warmth is the remedy. Feel kindness for yourself and for the bad habit.
I love myself as i am.... (Fill in the blank with the name of your bad habit.)
I love myself as i am, impatient.
I love myself as i am, cold-hearted.
I love myself as i am, feeling unloveable.

Morning sun is streaming into our passive solar house and warming us up on this wind-chilly day.

Photo from wallowamountainproperties.com

Full Blast Winter

With winter in full blast, i become acutely aware of the wind chill factor. Air blowing down from the Arctic decreases the already low temperature to tundra-like conditions. Even though i purposely left a small stand of white pines and hemlocks to protect the house from the prevailing northwesterlies, i can sometimes hear the wind whistling around the corners of the house.

Lying in my cozy bed at night, i hear the deepest wind chime bonging--a reminder to watch the air moving in my own body. Breathing in. Breathing out.