Winter's Night

I have been offline for about a day due to a big storm here in the Northwest. Yesterday afternoon my daughter and I went to have a pedicure and as we were waiting for polish to dry the power failed and everything went dark—street lights, traffic signals, the entire area. The nail place is, normally, about 5 minutes from my house, but it took me nearly 45 minutes to get home. There was a fierce wind, many people leaving work and power lines and large trees down in places. Traffic crept through the signal-less intersections. My usual "shortcut" was blocked by a large, downed tree whose roots had literally popped out of the ground. It has been raining steadily for nearly a week and the ground is saturated. When strong winds come, the trees can't hold onto the muddy earth. This is a combination we dread here.

I rounded up candles and an oil lamp and flashlight when I got home and fixed myself a hearty dinner of olives, cheese and crackers and Irish whiskey. (That encompasses all the food groups—right?) After puttering around uselessly for several hours I finally went to bed, using my little battery booklight to read for awhile. I woke up much later when the power came back on. It is still out in many parts of the city. I am lucky. No internet this morning, but it is finally back and the wind has died, the sun is shining and city crews are out sawing up fallen trees and cleaning up the debris. Life returns to normal. There are still 3 climbers missing on Mt. Hood and I thought of them last night as the storm raged.

I had our small quilt group, STASH, for our annual Christmas party Tuesday night and we had such a great time we forgot to take any pictures. You can read more about it on Gerrie's blog, plus her trip to the emergency room the next day. (No, it wasn't my cooking that sent her!) I finally got some Christmas decorating done in time for our party. I added the picture, above, of the Christmas tree especially for Ray, who is off working in the Virgin Islands for several weeks. See the nice tree Andy and I picked out? Looks good, eh? And I know you all will want to see a closeup of the angel. No, I didn't make this angel, but I just adore her. I found her years ago in a shop in Ashland, where we lived at the time. I have not seen as colorful or "folk-y" an angel before or since.

I always hang my red and gold feathered star quilt over the fireplace at Christmas and put out my collection of terra cotta ornaments on the mantel. I've never been one for color-coordinated, designer Christmas decor. I like the old, well-loved stuff.

And speaking of old and well-loved. I came across one of my favorite Gordon Lightfoot songs on Youtube. It speaks to the season. Sarah McLachlin recorded a lovely version of this song, but I still prefer Gordon Lightfoot's version. Enjoy