Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Goodnight Winter

I could write a long post about all the little things that went wrong today. It was just "one of those days." From the Internet being down at the college when I went to take a proctored exam that requires the Internet, to my "low fuel" indicator light coming on, to breaking a handle on a coffee mug while doing dishes... just one of those days. On the other hand, the Internet finally came up while I was still at the college, I made it to the gas station before running completely out of fuel, and it was mug with no sentimental value attached to it at all.
Near the end of the day, things went more smoothly. I gathered my first herb harvest of 2008, on the last day of winter, and we enjoyed fresh thyme on our roasted sweet potatoes. After I got bread rising in two loaf pans, I ran outside to take photos of deer down in the field at the neighbor's farm. For the past several days, I have seen these deer each evening at twilight and each morning at dawn. Often there are 12 of them, and many times they are enjoying the remains of last autumn's sunflowers. You can barely see three of them in the farther field on this "fuzzy photo."
A pretty moon is rising, almost full, and I was able to get a picture showing a tiny white moon against the clear sweet blue of the sky. I have been waiting for weeks on end to see a sky without heavy gray clouds, and the late afternoon hours brought that blue to me. So, it was one of those days... one of those days filled with the blessings of life in a quiet country house on a windy hill.



photos by Aisling, March 19, 2008, last day of winter

9 comments:

Michele said...

I'm so glad that your day ended on a positive note, dear Aisling!

Rue said...

Beautiful pictures! I love what you said at the end...
"So, it was one of those days... one of those days filled with the blessings of life in a quiet country house on a windy hill."

Perfect :)

Have a wonderful day!
Rue

kerrdelune said...

I love this post, and it is exactly what I needed to read today. Thank you!

Debbie said...

What a lovely post, Aisling! I liked the way you turned it around in the end.

Marcie said...

Rue, Cate and Prairie Star,

Thank you for your nice comments. I'm glad what I wrote was meaningful for someone besides me. I'm still waiting to write a "Good Morning, Spring" post. We've been having very wintry weather here since Spring began. :)

warm regards,
Aisling

Marcie said...

Nancy,
My sweet potatoes were yummy. We toss them with olive oil, crushed garlic, crushed red pepper flakes and thyme. The garlic, red pepper, and thyme are supposed to be immune boosting, according to some of my herbal resources. Besides that though, they just taste great that way!

Thank you for visiting! :)

Deb said...

Wow, lovely thoughts and beautiful pictures. Deb

Nan said...

Beautiful writing and sentiments, dear Aisling. You've expressed what daily life is like most of the time. A little good, a little wonderful, a little trouble. The hope is that the little troubles are rarely, rarely big ones. It is so nice to see deer having made it through the winter.

Marcie said...

Rapunzel,

I missed responding to you on this note! Sorry. Thank you for your kindly expressed thought! :)

Deb,
Thanks for your kind words on my writing and photos. As I said in an answer to another comment, I'm looking forward to some spring weather so I can welcome in spring, as I bid goodnight to winter. It has been snowing all day today, so this will not be the day.

Nan,
Yes, thankfully most troubles are small. I'm thrilled at all of the deer I've been seeing. In some parts of our state they are often seen in large numbers. Here, we usually see just two or three at a time. It is wonderful to see 9 or 12 each evening, and they appear to be finding something to nibble on in the fields.