Life in the Snow

It snowed the other night.  I had dinner plans at La Tolteca with Jason, but much faster than I thought possible, given the warmth of the winter thus far, the snow had stuck to the roads.  Friends on Facebook cautioned against driving in the area.  The street in front of my house had disappeared into a blanket of white.  We canceled dinner, a "snowcheck."  I made a pizza instead, with a balsamic reduction base, prosciutto, goat cheese, mozzerella, and chopped dates.

Quietly the snow came down, and the next morning the world sparkled in white.  It warmed, so the silence of the snow-covered world was broken by the sounds of dripping water from the roof and the trees.  The road in front my house remained frozen and unplowed.  I stayed inside the whole day.  I read, I cross-stitched, I worked on my Latin.  I watched a few episodes of Arrested Development while playing with Rhett and Felix.  I cooked chicken and rice. 

This morning most of the snow on the street had gone.  I went out to check the mail and found tracks on the driveway and sidewalk-- I identified cat pawprints, rabbit prints, and the hooves of a deer.  The deer must have come nearly right up the front door!  I like that about snow.  It reminds me that while I sleep the world goes on living.  A deer, right by the house.  So close that had I been awake I could have reached out the door to touch it. 

I left the house today for the first time in forty-eight hours.  I trudged to the library to return a book, then visited with one of my friends briefly in a little shop near Merchant Square.  Then I returned home, to read, to drink tea, to play with the kitties.

The sun shone, the world glittered.  And went on living.

Finding Myself Without a Guide; or, an Old Friend Returns

My car has a built-in GPS system.  I had come to rely on it: anywhere I wanted to go, I plugged in the address on my GPS.  Sometimes I wouldn't even look it up before I left, trusting my GPS would get me there somehow, even if it ended up being a bit roundabout.  Then the car accident.  I have not had my car since December 23rd, and thus, no GPS.

I've been driving my old Honda Accord.  My parents got me the Accord when I was fifteen.  It was used and nice and perfect for learning to drive.  I drove it until I graduated from college, when I got the car that is currently in the shop.  The Accord and I have a lot of memories.  It drove me from Missouri to Virginia when I moved at age sixteen.  It took me and my friends to Disney World senior year of undergrad.  It has a few quirks: the gas gauge kind of gets stuck at a little under half a tank, so you have to just guesstimate and fill up whenever you think you might be running low.  I also think the speedometer is slightly off; whenever I pass those automated signs telling me how fast I'm going (usually in a 25 MPH area), it constantly seems that the speedometer runs about three miles fast-- thus, if I think I'm going 26, I'm going 23.  This is a good type of flaw, though, and I think keeps me from careless speeding.

But the Accord doesn't have a GPS system.  So getting places has been a little bit more challenging than in the past.  It has, however, made me feel really human and resourceful and independent.  The other day Zan and I met to see a couple of films at a movie theater near Richmond, and I got there totally GPS-free.  I looked up the directions on MapQuest, committed the directions to memory, then just... drove there.  I got there without any problems at all.  And it felt good.  Similarly, I drove up to Northern Virginia to stay with a friend a few weeks ago, and while that was more problematic in terms of finding her home, it still felt pretty great to get there without relying on an automated voice telling me to turn left and right and every which way.  I can do things without computer technology taking me every single step of the way, surrounding me at all times.

The Honda Accord and I have had a great time getting to know each other again.  It's like returning to an old friend, and rediscovering a part of myself that I didn't even know I missed.

Incessant Rain

It has rained non-stop for the past six days.  They predicted a sunny weekend last weekend, but it never materialized.  Instead, gloom.  Gloomy clouds.  Drizzle.  Fog.  And this weather has continued all week.  A little lake has appeared in my backyard.  Gutters have become creeks.  Moreover, it seems that the rain spans the state.  I drove to Charlottesville yesterday and never once saw the sunshine or clear skies.  I drove back through fog and then drizzle and then rain.  I'm getting very despondent.  I don't do well with dreary weather for long periods.

I thought I moved away from Seattle.  But it turns out, you can never leave.

(Though, they are predicting sunshine tomorrow.)

We can watch kittens

Today a friend sent me a link to a livestream of kittens.  I'm not sure why he did this, except as part of a nefarious plan to keep me from ever getting work done ever again.  Seriously, this has been very detrimental to the amount of things I have done today.  Because, kittens.  You watch them.  You'll see. They are so, so adorable.  Especially when their mommy comes in to feed them.

That's really the most exciting news I have for you all.  Today it's very rainy, but not very cold, and I had a spa treatment, and now I'm feeling very relaxed (the kitties are helping that, too).  I've almost finished The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There, and so far I deem it a very worthy sequel.  Just gorgeous descriptions of places September visits and a strong, un-contrived plot-- I'm especially a fan of the Duke of Tea and the Vicereine of Coffee living in their teapot palace.  I might be finished with it if it weren't for the kitties on the livestream.  The book has made me want to go on a quest, though.  I think very often that I would be good at questing, and that a quest might be just the thing for me, but who really goes on quests anymore-- at least, the kind that involve a lot of walking and rationing food until you find a village with a tavern or stumble upon a very large feast in an enchanted grove?  And at the end of your quest, you've accomplished something really worthwhile that saves the lives of an entire world or something else noble like that.  Sigh.  I'm not sure those quests exist anymore, really.  I like to think that enchanted groves might exist still, though.

Ok, go watch kittens.  You know you want to.

(No, I don't know who set up this livestream, and they have not asked me to promote it)

Barefeet

 Yesterday was cold and dreary, so even though today dawned sunny, I figured it would still be frosty outside.  Hence, I made a cup of green tea and settled in with a book, The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente.  I've read this book before, but I had forgotten what a masterpiece it is.  It really, really is.  I highly recommend it to anyone who loves Alice in Wonderland and/or modernist/postmodernist literature.  I reread it because the sequel just came out, and I needed a refresher on the story.  But I've never forgotten one quote from it: "You can have grief without adventure, but you can't have adventure without grief."

Anyway.  I finished it around 1:00 and ventured outside just because I wanted to sit in the sunshine for a minute.  And, strangely, it was not cold in the least.  It was 70 degrees outside!  So, I texted Jason and we met up on Duke of Gloucester Street and went for a walk.  The thing is, because of the book, I decided to try walking in a new pair of shoes.  Yes, because of the book.  Because the book explains that each pair of shoes wants something different-- fancy sparkly shoes want balls, slippers want dancing or sleep, etc.  So, I thought, "Change my shoes, change my life."  After about half a mile, though, the shoes began to wear blisters.  Very badly.  So, I took them off.  I walked barefoot nearly all the way back.  And it was such a lovely, odd sensation.  I veered off the pavement to feel warm ground and soft grass under my feet.  In early January.  I suppose walking barefoot wants something, too, like shoes.

I doubt this bubble will last, but for today it felt wonderful. 

(Photo by Zan, August 2010; 
no one paid me to say nice things about Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland, I really just love it)

Undeck the Halls

Now that Twelfth Night has passed it's time to take down the Christmas decorations.  Most of them have already gone, and for several nights I've neglected to turn on the candles in the windows, but the tree and some bits and pieces of garland still remain.  I thought I would feel a bit more bittersweet about taking the angel from the top of the tree and unwrapping the lights from the staircase bannister, but I actually feel kind of relieved.  Outside today was clear and cool.  It feels like January now-- a new year, a new start. I'm slipping into the new year happily: I've read and watched movies, made bourbon balls, visited with friends both virtually and in reality.  I have a routine of tea and reading and checking on my grad apps and playing with the cats and making to-do lists and getting some things done.  And if it's not all done, not caring too very much, not letting it get to me for once in my life, because there's tomorrow, too.  I feel really happy.  I realized it yesterday morning while making my bed, oddly enough.  Right now, for however long it lasts, I'm happy.

Christmas Catch-Up and a New Gadget

Because of the car accident, I never posted about visiting Zan just prior to Christmas.  I arrived the Friday before Christmas and Zan and I went to the ASC (American Shakespeare Center) to see Twelve Dates of Christmas.  Twelve Dates is a one-woman show written by a former ASC actor.  It follows a woman named Mary through one terrible year of her life: at Thanksgiving, she sees her fiance kissing another woman-- televised courtesy of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade-- then spends the next year recovering.  She goes on twelve dates over the course of the year (or on several dates with the same person) and each one in some way teaches her or helps her.  The play made me laugh and, at points, cry.  Alli Glenzer, who played Mary this year, was wonderful. 

The next day we headed to town early to get late lunch with Zan's friend Hunter at the Baja, where I had these amazing puercos en serrapes (I think that's how it was spelled).  They were tortillas stuffed with pork and fried, then covered in a corn and black bean salsa and spicy honey.  So. Good.  I will have dreams of these pork tortillas for many a moon.  After late lunch, we looked in a few shops for a gift for Zan's gift exchange party, then it was back to the ASC, this time for Santaland Diaries.  Unlike Twelve Dates, I have seen Santaland Diaries before.  I couldn't wait to see it again, this time starring Jake Mahler.  Again, fantastic.  Santaland Diaries never prompts tears in the same way as Twelve Dates, but it sure did make me laugh!!!  I really loved Jake's take on Crumpet the Elf.  And after the show I got to talk to Denice, who I hadn't seen in a year, and I just adore her.

We left the theater to go to Christmas parties: first, with Zan's family friends, then with Zan's high school friends.  Both parties had good food, good people, and good conversation.  I just have a memory of warmth and happiness from both.  And that was my weekend, wonderful and full, just prior to the accident.

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And a new gadget in the sidebar.  This year, I'm adding in "Movies, 2013."  I have a real issue with not seeing enough movies, even ones that I really want to see, so I decided to hold myself accountable this year.  I have a list of films that I really want to watch, and so this year, I will.  Probably.  Please feel free to weigh in via comment-- on any post whatsoever-- about what you thought of a film, should you see one on the growing list that catches your eye!

Happy New Year, 2013!

We rang in the New Year with old friends and new friends, champagne, and fireworks.  2012 finished with a screening of Willow, a few episodes of The Legend of the Seeker, and spending all day in our pajamas before finally dressing up in our finest and heading out into the cold night.  Brian, Kay, Zan, and I had dinner at a lovely Italian restaurant called Bellini.  They had a New Year's Eve prix fix meal: I had a Caprese salad, fettuccine with wild boar ragu, and creme brulee.  Kay's dessert was some kind of gelato thing in a giant chocolate ball.  We also got bellinis, of course.

After dinner, we took a Mr. Toad's Wild Ride of a taxi to a hotel down near the river to meet with some of Kay's friends from the opera.  We drank champagne and watched the ball drop in Times Square from the comfort of our warm room, and we counted down and Zan and I kissed at midnight.  Just as we kissed, fireworks started.  Our hotel room overlooked the Philadelphia fireworks, so we all ran to the window to watch them burst open, multi-colored sparkles raining down.

We left shortly after, and Zan and I awoke while the light in the sky was still gray.  Kay woke up, too, and walked us to where we had parked our car, we bid a warm farewell in the cold morning, then Zan and I drove back to his home, where a wonderful New Years Day brunch awaited us.  We ate glorious food, I took a long nap, and then we saw Les Miserables with his family.

What a lovely start to the new year.  2013, let's keep this up, shall we?

 (Zan and me at Bellini)

 (Brian and Kay at Bellini)

 (Kay and Brian just after the New Year!)

 (Me and Zan just after the New Year!)

(The girls at New Years!)