back to reality

late january in the north. time of dormancy and hunger for most critters. time of weary resignation for humans. most of my friends have fled or are fleeing to warmer climates.  steve and i are both working on book deadlines. so we are here for the duration, putting in long solitary days on our manuscripts, and sitting beside the fire in the evenings. not a true hibernation, but close.

austrian pine branch tip with frost (Pinus nigra)

more hothouse reprieve

when we got home from nyc last weekend, we found that our dog sitter had left us an enormous floral arrangement on the dining room table (she is a florist).  it was an over-the-top and incredibly thoughtful gift. she knew we would be emotionally wrung out after dropping off our youngest at college. and she was right. but what she (probably) didn’t know was that i was going to very very busy when i got back from nyc, preparing for a talk i am giving to over 2000 people on thursday. so her gift of a vase full of beautiful…STILL stuff….was a double win: it lifted our spirits and it gave me several days worth of STILL subjects. thank you madeline (and erik) for being such incredible humans!

white agapanthus (lily of the nile)

who knew?

whoa, i was just reading the wiki page on orchids and found this fascinating factoid: “the number of orchid species is nearly equal to the number of bony fishes, more than twice the number of bird species, and about four times the number of mammal species…moreover, since the introduction of tropical species into cultivation in the 19th century, horticulturists have produced more than 100,000 hybrids and cultivars.”  what more is there to say? orchids are everywhere apparently. including my dining room table.

orchid flowers and buds

feeling uprooted

we are home after dropping our son off at school in nyc. i have had the pleasure of watching him come into himself (as a young man) over the past six months. he is ready for this next phase. and i am excited for him. but, his leaving means steve and i are without kids in our home for the first time in 24 years. i liked the daily thrum of a household with kids. so i am feeling a little adrift right now. the house it too quiet. no one cares what’s for dinner, or what time it will be. it’s all going to take some time to get used to.  steve keeps telling me he’s excited to see what we can do creatively with our freed up time and attention. he’s right, it is thrilling in the principle. but it is going to take me a few weeks to adjust. right now, it all feels eerily quiet. like this photo.

still winter in minnesota

four days in nyc, and it was already starting to feel like spring–mid 40’s all week. but it is still very much winter here in minnesota.  matter of fact, january and february are the height of winter. which reminds me, have i ever shared this kurt vonnegut piece with you? i love it:

Kurt Vonnegut, in 1978, gave the commencement speech at Fredonia State College in upstate New York. In the speech, Vonnegut suggested to the graduating class that the traditional four seasons don’t make sense for northern areas of the country. Here is what he said:

“One sort of optional thing you might do is to realize that there are six seasons instead of four. The poetry of four seasons is all wrong for this part of the planet, and this may explain why we are so depressed so much of the time. I mean, spring doesn’t feel like spring a lot of the time, and November is all wrong for autumn, and so on.

Here is the truth about the seasons: Spring is May and June. What could be springier than May and June? Summer is July and August. Really hot, right? Autumn is September and October. See the pumpkins? Smell those burning leaves? Next comes the season called Locking. November and December aren’t winter. They’re Locking. Next comes winter, January and February. Boy! Are they ever cold!

What comes next? Not spring. ‘Unlocking’ comes next. What else could cruel March and only slightly less cruel April be? March and April are not spring. They’re Unlocking.”