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"Never have I seen one woman in whom every social grace was so lacking. Did I say she was primitive? I retract that. She's feral!"--Walter Matthau as Henry Graham in Elaine May's A New Leaf
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Friday, April 8, 2005 |
Interval. Clouds part. Sunlight blast from low in the west--sun! at 6:45pm--and not a shred of snow in sight. The east side of the ridge glows green-gold. The pear tree in the courtyard bursts with blossom.
I felt colder today than I have all winter. Fires in both stoves at once--a first--and finally I resort to ginger tea to get the warming circulation. Supper, red wine, book by the fire, and a doze with Apple in my lap.
Was this winter's last gasp?
6:52:02 PM 
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"Lunacy grows worse at full and new Moon, taught the famous 16th century physician, Paracelsus, referring to a disease that had been recognised since Classical times, and which became official under British Law in the mid-nineteenth century. The 1842 Lunacy Act defined as a 'Lunatic' a demented person enjoying lucid intervals during the first two phases of the Moon and afflicted with a period of fatuity in the period following after the full Moon.
"Sometimes, when a new Moon occurs on a clear night, a faint, golden outline of the full Moon can be seen as a continuation of the bright crescent. Traditional folklore refers to this as the 'Old Moon in the New Moon's arms', a phenomenon created by earthshine--the reflection of light from the Earth back onto the surface of the Moon. Old customs take this to be the sign of a storm or misfortune; as one old ballad goes:
Late, Late yester' ev'n I saw the new Moon
wi' the old Moon in her arm
and I fear, I fear, my dear master
that we shall come to harm."
(from http://www.skyscript.co.uk/moonfolk.html)
10:26:07 AM
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Well, I took a picture of what has become a sort of blizzard, but then my camera batteries gave out before I could upload it. Here's what my Emergency Weather Update email has to say:
"A STORM SYSTEM HAS REACHED N. CA & WILL REMAIN OVER
THE REGION THROUGH TONIGHT. MODERATE TO HEAVY ACCUMULATIONS OF SNOW
CAN BE EXPECTED AT ELEVATIONS ABOVE 3000 FEET.
A TOTAL OF 5 TO 15 INCHES OF SNOW IS ANTICIPATED BY 4 AM PDT SATURDAY
MORNING. SNOWFALL WILL DECREASE BEFORE SUNRISE SAT MORNING."
10:24:39 AM
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Awoke at 4:30 after going to sleep late. I'm a little punchy this morning. And now it's 6, and I've had my tea and honey. The blue outdoors has brightened to reveal that another inch of snow has fallen in the night. It's so cold out there this morning, in the 20s F., and it may be afternoon before this white stuff disappears. Frogs sang all night from the willows despite the falling snow. They must be so cold. I hear the morning mallard quacking from the pond. He always sounds so irritable, but that's a human interpretation; he well may be serenading his lady love.
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7:20. The goddess is all aglow in the kitchen. These rooms may be warm before long. I was right on the money with the firewood: that little bit we brought with us last summer, together with found wood from around the place and a couple of very weathered old rounds N. left behind, which split nicely, got us through to April. We have a good bit still in the pile, not to mention a half-cord at least of great unsplittable chunks that need only a chain saw to cut them to size.
Snow's still coming down. I'll have to drive out to mail a pile of books (nine orders since noon yesterday! including a hardcover Heinrich Heine, of all things), so I'm glad I didn't swap off the snowtires yet. Although it's past the legislated date for doing so, I think. If I could just keep track of time I might fare better with deadlines.
Brian bustles about the kitchen putting together his cereal and banana and orange juice. He's very good at making his two meals a day. I always sit down for a hot supper with him, though. We are very nearly two grownup roommates together. I'll catch up someday, I suppose.
I did two-and-a-half Difficult Things yesterday, and that's pretty good. The half thing was taxes. I opened the envelope. I pulled out the papers. I looked at the figures. I put them back in the envelope and went into shock for a while. So looking at them again is one of today's Difficult Things.
Look at that snow come down! Time to go to work.
7:39:14 AM
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