the wonder of earth

The wind whipped at my face while I struggled to keep my hood from flying off my head. Snowflakes, and I hesitate to call them flakes as that is so benign, drove onto my cheeks making them burn with cold. The driving snow illuminated the path of the wind - who has seen the wind - I’ve seen where it was and where it is. I hunkered down into the warmth of my jacket and rejoiced. I could imagine that beneath the monotone world, spring was gathering her strength. The white shroud covering the earth was only a palate cleanser between courses and soon the lid would be removed to reveal a green earth.

It seems that one is never more alive than when Nature is hurling her fury - could it be a vestigial memory of how close death is when Nature shows her strength?

My snowshoes were great, keeping me somewhat on top of the layers of snow, while Adia struggled through the drifts. Her exercitions will hopefully tire her out for the day!

Carm was the real hero of the day, man-handling the giant orange snowblower up and down the laneway, braving the most ferocious part of the day. I stayed inside warm, but didn’t lie around eating bonbons… in fact chocolate was far from my mind… slicing a cow heart into tiny pieces is not a joyous task. The veins, or are they arteries, swirl around looking like parasites. Ugh. So gross.

My blog post for last year came up in my facebook feed. It was the day past Kabira’s birthday and  I was talking about how close she and Bella were: “Losing one of them doesn’t even bear thinking about as I think the other wouldn’t be far behind.”  I’m glad I didn’t know at the time how true my words were and that only 16 days would separate their departure from us to wed the rich soil of the earth. (let’s not go there any longer- I suddenly feel a prickling in my eyes and a ache in my chest).

Also in that post was mention of Spike being depressed with the long winter. He’s actually doing well this year, perhaps horsing around with Adia is keeping him engaged. Or maybe the little training sessions are helping. He’s not spending as much time in the bedroom by himself so he must be feeling better.

With the storm raging on I am motivated to make some Baked Potato Soup for supper. A rich bowl of potatoes gilded with cream and bacon will take the winter chill away.

“I feel no need for any other faith than my faith in the kindness of human beings. I am so absorbed in the wonder of earth and the life upon it that I cannot think of heaven and angels.”

~Pearl S. Buck