A Winter's Journey

Good Friday Morning,

Today's art reminds me of the dirt roads of my childhood when walking to school was part agony and part awe. There is nothing quite like a frosty morning with the temps below zero and particles of ice dancing in the air. The passing scenery seen from the back seat of Pop's car on Sunday rides was like something out of a fairy tale.

Speaking of fairy tales, I happened to see The Golden Compass a week or so ago and I was truly amazed at what computer generated characters can do. The battle between the ice bears had me on the edge of my seat and I can see how writers are gradually going to become producers of something much grander as time goes by. This movie garnered all sorts of awards with sequels going by the wayside due to economic constraints, but it was just wonderful.

I have been a writer all my life, and I will tell you that I always struggled to do a better job and to present a better product. My first book was written in pencil on a tablet of yellow paper. The second was delivered from a portable typewriter. I had a better portable for the third, but I was still typing books over and over again as I tried to reach perfect prose.

Back in the late 80s I was introduced to computers and I was scared to death I would do something wrong and break the darned thing. I loved, however, features like spell check and the ability to make changes without using paper or ink ribbons. Then I went to work as a news reporter and learned that the darned things don't break that easily. Page lay-out jangled my nerves. I just knew I couldn't do it -- but I did. The next thing you know I was working for a non-profit and producing 8-page newsletters and all the ephemera attached to event planning. I got so I sort of enjoyed computers and do to this day.

Some of my friends think I am a nerd and call me for help with computer problems, but I am just a writer struggling to keep up and stay on the sunny side. (I call more savvy users myself when I hit a techno-wall!)

Happy computering! Terry

Winter Memories in a Cold Season

Good Morning Bloggers,

I am so glad today is Wednesday. It is still raining and hump day offers hope that the rest of the week will clear up and the sun will shine.

It has always puzzled me that the sun is actually closer to Mother Earth in winter than in summer because winter is always a bit inhospitable. Well, I guess there are people who enjoy winter sports, but I never did like the season of cold. I was never quite warm when I was a kid - we lived in a farmhouse heated by a wood stove in the kitchen for cooking and an oil burner that did its best to warm the rest of the house.

There was a great competition at home for spots near the fire and I have clear memories of sitting in the woodbox behind the range in order to do my homework in comfort. Dad had his feet in the oven and the rest of the family was gathered around to make the most of cold winter days. Pop did his best to maintain a party atmosphere, popping corn and making jackwax by pouring hot sugar syrup over fresh snow. We laughed a lot, and we got along. If one was mad, one could get sent to bed and it was cold upstairs, I have clear memories of the snow blowing in under the bedroom window.

Today, I live in my dream house a couple of states south of the wintery days of my youth. The house is cold in deference to fuel shortages throughout the country and my small budget, but I wouldn't change it for the world. I should, however, wish for the sun to shine - so keep on the sunny side wherever that may be, folks. Terry

Snow Days

Good Morning Bloggers,

We are having some real pretty weather here on the Eastern Shore, but I called my brother Thursday and he said he is still digging out from the big storm that hit the Dakotas last week. Guy said he was snowed in for two days, but that he had made it out to the store before the storm hit. Good for him. Snow days are such fun when you have enough groceries and the television works.

The other day I was watching a show on television, and one of the characters called his girl 'a snow day.' I thought that was really sweet because when I was young a snow day meant freedom, lounging around in my pajamas all day and baking sweet treats in the kitchen. Snow days meant hours fooling around with my tablet writing poetry or trying to do a watercolor and finding out how many colors there are in a field of white snow. That freedom to experiment led to all sorts of other freedoms as I grew older. I always did appreciate a snow day.

We had a lot of snow one winter shortly after I moved to the Eastern Shore, although such storms are rare. That year we had several big storms and I found that the streets were neither plowed nor salted as they were in the northern mountains I had lived in all my life. The world was simply closed. I wondered how I could ever dig out my car until a local preacher came by and dug it out for me. My neighbors in the apartment building all trudged out to find bread, milk and sundries at stores miles away. There was laughter on the streets and soup on the stove.

It was days before the world started to move again and I came to realize that sometimes it is wise to appreciate a good thing - even if it means a delay in ones's plans. Personally, I think it is too bad we can't order a snow day when we really want one.

I guess that makes the point. Enjoy the moment all. Terry