As Our Life Goes On

Few footprints are seen In the white snowy landscape Winter wonderland Walking alone in my thoughts There's a new path to follow -Caroline

The snow that fell on Northeast Ohio last night was not significant for this area. We are in a secondary snow belt and the lake effect snows that arrive from Lake Erie are often much deeper. The fluffy white stuff that outlined branches, wires and tree trunks flew off in large puffs as the wind blew this morning. It is a very clean looking pretty snow. Fortunately a trailer full of wood was brought around to the side of the house yesterday in anticipation of this snowfall. 

The days are now very dark in Northeast Ohio. Clouds that form over Lake Erie cause many of our Fall and Winter days to have no visible sunlight. I can see the bike trail from my house now that the leaves have fallen. It can be seen as the flat area behind the wet areas about midway up in this picture. Fewer people seem willing to walk, ride or run on the dark cold wet days. We have our own trail cut down the hill above that goes all the way around the property. Five circles around would be about a mile. The path above shows the steepest hill which is usually traversed in the downward direction. 

The Christmas season has turned into a season that is so different from the time that I grew up. We did have a real Christmas tree that would be erected less than a week before Christmas. The ornaments were mostly the same each year. They were stored away each year carefully wrapped individually in tissue paper. There were multicolored lights and shiny glass bulbs of different colors. Some hand made pieces that we had created around the dining table from directions found in magazines might be added.  Perhaps a new colorful chain made from construction paper would be wrapped around the tree. Heavy lead tinsel was liberally applied after all other decorations were secured. The tree looked very beautiful.  Years ago the important things of the season were Christmas concerts at the school and Christmas Eve church services. I sung in the choir so this was always a very special evening. The Sears and Roebuck Christmas catalog had carefully folded pages with items circled that we t

Never before have we seen such publicity on local sign-up clinics for veteran's cards. We chose the closest venue which was at a retirement community in Hudson, Ohio. It was actually held on Veteran's Day. This location was a great option compared to going to downtown Akron to get the card.  When we arrived in the main lobby it seemed very obvious that a special program honoring veteran's was going on in a room close by. We turned the corner to find the sign up area. There were at least 20 men and women sitting in chairs ahead of us.  Yes, It was a musical chair type of advancement to the sign-up table in the front. There were at least two very obviously disabled men  in the chairs in front of us. One was in a wheelchair with an attendant accompanying him and one had a very difficult time even standing to move from chair to chair as the line progressed. The ladies in charge of the line were quite lax in watching how the line moved along but seemed bent on keeping th

Sunset has arrived Casting brilliant red colors At the end of day -Caroline

Walking to work along the bike trail is a bit safer than walking along the street. Work is about a mile away so Russ took the camera along with him as he traversed the trail. A very thin crust of ice along the edge of the wetlands area and very still water in the center of this small pond enhances the beauty of the reflected trees. Recent snow flurries give the scene a frosty appearance.  Sheltered areas of the trail retained the light snow cover and the wooded areas are very open looking. The sun alternated with snow flurries today and in exposed areas the white cover melted in the warmth even though the day was quite chilly. 

The wind and rain of last night brought down this medium size dead limb. I don't remember whether the one top iron extension on the fence gate was slightly bent before this happened or not. At least it did not break and the bend is not bad enough to warrant fixing. It just adds a bit more charm to the antique cast iron fence. The leaves are soaked and they will have to dry before more leaf blowing can take place. 

The colors of the bright yellow maple leaves have a muted reflection in the window of the shed that sits close to the hill over the Metroparks hike and bike trail. That little shed needs scraped and painted but sadly that job will have to wait until next year. The plans to clear one of our last piles of "stuff" will also be pushed into the next year. Wood is being transported from the woodpile to the front porch. Cold weather is coming and we are prepared for that. 

An empty bird house Waiting for the wrens return I await that time -Caroline

The high winds last evening and through the night brought down a lot of leaves and small branches. Leaf blowers can be heard throughout the neighborhood. The Japanese red maple in front of the breezeway has turned the color that we await all year. Once this intense red-orange color appears the leaves fall within days. The cement pad in front of the the breezeway will soon be covered with a thick mat of red leaves. This tree is a very messy tree at all times of the year. Blossoms fall in the Spring, Seeds fall later and then it is time for the leaves. The gutters need cleaning very often. The tree was in place when we moved here or we would have never planted it so close to the house. It is very beautiful.