Oh, Lookie There, I’ve Got a Bite
Recently, I’ve spent all my free time tying flies for fly fishing. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for years, even though I don’t fly fish. For Christmas, Brian gave me an Anvil Atlas rotary vise and I’ve been hooked, figuratively and sometimes literally, ever since. I haven’t spent a lot of time following established patterns, so I don’t know if anything I’ve made would actually catch a fish, although we used to fish with hot dog pieces, so I’m pretty confident “these dogs will hunt.” I’ve considered selling them at shipping cost to those who do fly fish, just to see how they fare, but I may wait until…
Good Things Just Keep Comin’ Our Way
Friday afternoon, December 23rd, Brian commented that he had “just a tickle annoyance” in his throat. I probably repeated, “Are you sure you’re not feeling sick?” two dozen times, worrying that yet again we would be ill over our vacation. No, he wasn’t getting sick, he assured me repeatedly. Saturday morning, December 24th, I rolled over, smiling, ready to announce that there was just one more day until my sister and her family would open the huge box full of glitter and presents we sent, but before I could get beyond my smile, he said, “I think I might be getting sick.” Do you ever want to face-palm another person or is that…
The Snow Beneath My Boots Would Glitter and Squeak
This picture is old. It was taken behind our farmhouse in Iowa after a blizzard. It may feel over-exposed, but it’s not. That’s exactly how everything looked. The world was so incredibly white it was difficult to look at for any length of time. The world is white again, though not to that extent, which I had never seen before and haven’t experienced since. The snow right now is squeaky, compressing down into ice with each step, making every path treacherous. The temperatures are missing. As I sit sipping my iced coffee (What is wrong with me—hot chocolate in the summer and iced coffee in the winter?), it’s 2°F, which is…
Breathe Some Air That’s Never Been Breathed
We spent some time this weekend sitting out in the pasture. It’s the first time I’ve put my butt on the bare ground since we had to slide down a rocky ledge while geocaching in Connecticut. The number and size of spiders and insects that scurry through the fields here is somewhat disturbing. I’ve seen at least two cat-faced spiders, there are yooge funnel webs leading to deep, scary tunnels in the ground, where Shelob’s cousins live, and just last week I was stung on the finger by something that injected a venom that caused pain to my elbow for, like, at least an hour — it was touch and go there…
Life’s No Fun Without a Good Scare
I finally charged my camera battery for the first time since the end of 2015. The last photographs I had taken are of a snow storm on January 4th. I wasn’t sure what all would be on the card, and I didn’t want to see Reyka’s face, so I avoided touching the camera altogether. Luckily, there were only pictures of our Christmas tree, the storm, and some flatbread we had made for dinner. I seem to have forgotten how to take a good picture. Everything I attempted tonight came out wrong. I’m apologize. I need to start taking more again and perhaps not in the evening when things get grainy.…
