Snowflakes

We’re having a real Maine winter. It’s beautiful and welcome. More snow in the forecast, and lots of cold.

I am not oblivious to the political chaos going on in this country and around the world. But I can allow myself to feel isolated, enclosed in a wintry bubble. It is somehow heartening to be involved with local concerns, mostly due to Sam’s county commissioner position. Will the sheriff’s department be allowed to get another police dog? (They are very expensive!) How will the towns who opt out of paying for Animal Control handle their animal control? Will Steuben allow a rocket factory to build in the town? How is the local family who’s house burned down doing?

Here are some photos from last week.

We walked in a snowstorm. Normally we can see the bay and Schoodic Mountain from this spot. Not that day. I thought the little house looked very cozy hunkered down there. We were mostly sheltered from the cold wind, but one stretch of our walk exposed us to very blizzardy conditions with snow blowing straight into our faces. I remembered being outside in a snowstorm as a kid and taking shelter under a kind evergreen tree and listening to the sound of snow falling all around me. It’s strange how memory fixates on certain moments like that.

The next morning, all the trees bore their white decorations. The sky was full of high wispy clouds taking on the colors of sunrise. I didn’t capture the most beautiful color — very light pinks, yellows, and blues. Maybe you can imagine it. Skies are a wonderful sight.

Inside we have fairy lights in the lemon trees. It’s cheerful to have little lights on in the house when the sun is not shining.

One thing I am working on:

On Fridays, in my fiber group, I’m quilting these squares. I was calling this cloth the October cloth. I had put it away because I was hesitating about undertaking the long quilting process. But this winter seemed the right time to stitch it. I don’t have to think about which project to bring to fiber group, I just pack this with a little sewing kit and some hand-dyed thread. It’s going well. This is a two-layer piece with a backing from an old stained tablecloth. Lots of eco-dyed squares, plus some silk velvet, duppioni silk and velveteen. Someday I’ll photograph the whole piece, maybe outside in the snow!