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Category Archives: Winter
The Bathroom Window Does Not Disappoint
They’re back! An annual perk of Winter – stumbling into the bathroom at dawn to be greeted by ice art on the window. It has only just begun and so far the daily frost landscapes painted by nature have not … Continue reading
Posted in Aging, nature, Perspective, Photography, Seasons, senior musings, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, treasures, Uncategorized, Views From he Urban Porch ™, Weather, Winter, Wow!
Tagged abstract ice, bathroom window, cold bathroom, cold mornings, cold weather art, crystal formations, dawn abstracts, from my window, ice, ice formations, my imagination, nature's art, view from my window, window art, winter art
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First Day of the Last Month
It looks like we might have our first significant snow storm of the season tomorrow. Of course that prediction could easily change, but I rescheduled a long-distance appointment anyway. As always, over the last month or so the geese in … Continue reading
Posted in Aging, Autumn, Cooking, Dogs, Food, Holidays, House plants, nature, Perspective, Seasons, senior musings, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, Uncategorized, Views From he Urban Porch ™, Weather, Winter
Tagged December, End of November, fallen leaves, impending snow, intention, Japanese Maple, medicine card, missing loved ones, move with intention, murmurations, my red tree, northern lights, one flower standing, onward, Papi-Chi, papillon, The Antelope
1 Comment
Radiant
There is a bit of magic in waking up to trees glazed in icy wonder. As the sun dodged in and out from wolf-gray clouds, I kept stepping outdoors into the frigid air for brief moments to admire the prisms … Continue reading
Posted in nature, Perspective, Photography, Seasons, senior musings, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, treasures, Uncategorized, Views From he Urban Porch ™, Weather, Winter
Tagged diamonds, frozen, frozen world, glazed trees, ice, photography, pine needles, prisms, radiant sparkles, rime, shadows, silhouettes, sparkles, stalactites, unicorn icicles, winter gifts
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What’s On Your Nightstand?
It has been too easy to hunker down, gazing at winter skies, finding excuses to ride out the coldest moments indoors (unless you are one of those winter outdoor types – me, not very much). Despite a predisposition to remain … Continue reading
Posted in Aging, Earworm of the day, Flashback, Food, Friends, grief, nature, Perspective, Seasons, senior musings, Uncategorized, Weather, Winter
Tagged a lot of books, books, books on my night table, cozy, distractions, e-readers, friends passing, papillon, reading, reading more than one book at the same time, snowy days, the nightbird, too cold, unfinished, unfinished books, winter
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The Dawn Abstracts Return
Once again, the bathroom window has provided. The first ice pictures of this winter have arrived. It is a seasonal event, an arrangement of ice particles that develop on the (okay, not too clean) east-facing bathroom window on the coldest … Continue reading
Posted in nature, Perspective, Photography, Seasons, senior musings, treasures, Uncategorized, Views From he Urban Porch ™, Winter
Tagged abstract ice, bathroom window, cold mornings, cold weather art, dawn abstracts, ice art, ice crystals, ice formations, ice pictures, my imagination, winter art, winter dawn
2 Comments
Spring of Deception
A few days ago heralded the first day of Spring, the Vernal Equinox. We have arrived, and despite a few wistful sighs and moans, this area has mostly gotten off easy as far as a Winter goes. Of course there … Continue reading
Posted in Are you kidding me?, Birds, Coping, Humor, nature, Perspective, Seasons, Spring, Uncategorized, Weather, Winter
Tagged Birds, blossoms, broken washer, fake out, false spring, laundry dilemma, northeast seasons, scilla, spring blooms, Vernal Equinox, washing machine blues, winter returns
2 Comments
The Waiting
If you pay attention you can already detect the scent of green – I love how the color is synonymous with the fragrance. The trees here are still in their remission, but the promise of verdancy is in the air. … Continue reading
Posted in Cooking, Coping, Food, Gardening, Mushrooms, nature, Perspective, Photography, Seasons, senior musings, Spring, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, treasures, Uncategorized, Views From he Urban Porch ™, Weather, Winter
Tagged almost equinox, another year, anticipation, green, interesting fruits, lychee, moods, persimmon, seasonal changes, seasonal moods, seasonal shifts, small joys, spring is almost here, vernal, waiting for spring
5 Comments
Funny What the Weather Will Do
January is bouncing all over the place in both weather and emotions these days. Views From the Urban Porch have been varied and unpredictable. One day I’m staring at an atmosphere so vibrantly blue that it conjures up tropical skies … Continue reading
Posted in Aging, Cooking, Coping, Dogs, Earworm of the day, Flashback, Food, Friends, grief, nature, Perspective, Photography, Seasons, senior musings, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, Uncategorized, Views From he Urban Porch ™, Weather, Weird, Winter
Tagged Changes, changing weather, diversions, earworm, grief, ice, January, january deaths, mood, most deaths in january, passages, personal history, retail therapy, sky, sky changes, snow, snowmelt, weather changes, youth
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Gifts From a Bathroom Window
Every winter my bathroom window provides some wonderful ice art. Although other windows in this house face the same direction, this is the only one that puts on a show. Some mornings – even very cold ones – there is … Continue reading
Posted in Earworm of the day, nature, Perspective, Photography, Seasons, treasures, treasures, Uncategorized, Views From he Urban Porch ™, Weather, Winter, Wow!
Tagged abstract ice, bathroom window art, earworm art, earworms of the day, from my window, ice pictures, views from my window, window ice
1 Comment
First Snow
January has brought our first real snowstorm. It is so fresh and lovely. The Japanese maple leaves on My Red Tree had never quite let go this past autumn. Now they are heavily laden with fluffy clumps, soon to drop … Continue reading
Posted in Dogs, nature, Perspective, Photography, Seasons, senior musings, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, Uncategorized, Weather, Winter
Tagged cozy, first snow, first week of january, haiku, January, Japanese Maple, little dog problems, little dogs, maple syrup snow, Matsuo Basho, my red tree, Piette's House at Montfoucault, Pissarro, snowfall, snowstorm, the white of winter, winter, winter haiku, Winter Solitude
2 Comments
Book of Joys
And so we slowly move past the holidays and begin wrapping up another year. There will be a temporary reprieve from the Labels of Guilt – that onslaught of personalized address labels from good environmental causes, children’s hospitals and international … Continue reading
Posted in Aging, Flashback, grief, Holidays, Perspective, senior musings, treasures, treasures, Winter
Tagged book of joy, books, darkness and light, diaries, end of the year, grief and joy, happiness, holiday gifts, journaling, Joy, labels of guilt, Memories, old diaries, the guilt factor, The Holidays, the written word, too many labels, venting, writing, writing journals
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That Was Fast!
It occurred to me one night after I had crawled into bed….. and then almost every night afterwards. Much in the way a dog will circle and paw until they finally decide they have found their sweet spot and plop … Continue reading
Posted in Aging, Autumn, Earworm of the day, Perspective, Seasons, senior musings, Uncategorized, Weird, Winter
Tagged back in bed already, busting up the routines, comfort in routine, days blowing by, déjà vu, here i am again, how our brains process time, is it a senior thing?, perception of time, time goes faster as we age, time is moving too fast
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Random in the Rain
I’m sitting here at the computer, eating a very yummy but particularly stinky combination of melted goat cheese “brie” topped with last season’s harvest of honey from my brother’s hives, with a scattering of Spanish almonds on top. It is … Continue reading
Posted in Aging, Autumn, baking, Cooking, Food, Holidays, nature, Perspective, Seasons, senior musings, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, Uncategorized, Winter
Tagged chevre dish, cozy like a dog, dutch baby breakfast, dutch baby sunday, flashbacks of youth, last of the leaves, making autumn last, melted goat cheese, my foodie thoughts, my red tree, odd memories, what ever happened to
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A Holiday To-Do List
It’s that time of year again. I don’t know where this list originated, but it’s a great one concerning holiday spirit (or any time spirit), and something I make a point of sharing every year. An important reminder about keeping … Continue reading
Winter Prints
It’s been a little freaky having northeast February days hovering around fifty degrees, but I admit it has been nice to get outside in it, even though this weather is most likely global warming right smack in our faces. I … Continue reading
Posted in Birds, nature, Perspective, Uncategorized, Weather, Wildlife, Winter
Tagged freaky February, prints in the snow, small observations, unseasonably warm
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Clouds
At the beginning of this past weekend, the temperatures plummeted into the “I’m not going anywhere unless I really have to” zone, with wind chills of minus forty degrees fahrenheit (-40F). While this time could have been spent baking or … Continue reading
My Children Don’t Read My Blog
My children don’t read my blog. Once upon a time, perhaps about a decade ago, one of them would occasionally weigh in with a funny comment, but overall it is apparent they have little interest. I’m pretty sure they rarely, … Continue reading
Posted in Aging, kids, Perspective, Regrets, Uncategorized, Winter
Tagged aging, boomers, leaving memories behind, Memories, missed opportunities, parent/child, winter of our lives
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Emerging From Eeyore
Well, I’ve been down in the abyss for the past week. I find it consistently amazing that when you (and I guess it means “me”, unless it’s also you) don’t feel physically well, it colors just about every single thing. … Continue reading
Posted in Aging, Coping, Perspective, Uncategorized, Wildlife, Winter
Tagged depression, feeling better, illness and depression, urban porch, urban wildlife
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Summing Up Twenty-two
Yup, it certainly was another weird year. Thinking about it, it appears after almost every year we finish out, we probably look back and say things like “That was really hard “, or “Whew, made it through that one!” Of … Continue reading
Posted in Holidays, Perspective, treasures, Uncategorized, Winter
Tagged 2022, following up, Gifts, Holidays, it's about the love, my micro-universe, small wonders
1 Comment
Little Thrills
A few readers have shared with me that they have been unable to comment on some of my blog posts, that WordPress won’t allow them to register their responses without jumping through a few website hoops. In general I don’t … Continue reading
Posted in Cooking, Coping, Dogs, Food, Holidays, Perspective, Photography, treasures, treasures, Weather, Winter
Tagged crows, gifting, Gumby, hunkering down, laundry lint, little pleasures, no snow, pieces of the past, simple pleasures, winter food
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A Low-key Flurry
There is a low-key flurrying happening both inside and outside the house. The outside part is a steady, light, gentle, almost-mist of snow occurring right now, just enough to get you a little bit wet. It’s the first real one … Continue reading
A Few Last Hurrah’s and Into the Time of Stillness
Not to be fooled by a string of balmy autumn days more reminiscent of spring, the reality of November is finally upon us. Even after a few mornings of frost, I was surprised (and a little impressed) that the geranium … Continue reading
Posted in Autumn, Birds, Cooking, Food, nature, Uncategorized, Winter
Tagged Changes, last vestiges of autumn, November, time of stillness
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What It Boils Down To
It’s that time of year in these colder regions where the maple sap is running. This past weekend a number of local people have been busy boiling down their sap. On a Saturday complimented by a stellar-blue jay sky, friends … Continue reading
Posted in Friends, Uncategorized, Winter
Tagged February, maple sugaring, maple syrup, Memories, sap boiling, simple pleasures
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All Manner of Comfortable Things
“I’m built for comfort, I ain’t built for speed”. This line from a song keeps going through my head. I think it was Howlin’ Wolf . Didn’t Canned Heat do a version of it also? (I can’t find it if … Continue reading
Posted in Aging, Holidays, Humor, Uncategorized, Winter
Tagged Chillow, comfort, comfortable gifts, holiday gifts, hot flashes, midlife, over 50, over fifty, privilege
2 Comments
The Sore Throat Remedy in Our House
It’s that good ol’, bad ol’ winter cold time again. There are a few theories as to why this works (and it does). I envision the bacteria in your throat, your lungs, your sinuses, being killed off naturally – just … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized, Winter
Tagged Colds, Health, home remedy for colds, sore throat recipe, sore throat remedy, winter cold
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Rejoice the Winter Solstice
Rejoice! The Winter Solstice. The day began with a cup of chai. Then lunch at a little French bistro with family I haven’t seen in months. Warm holiday feelings. Chocolate. Baking. My Mother’s Boots. There are some fruit flies pinging … Continue reading
The January Bitch
Whew….. that was the crankiest of months, very glad that one is over. My rough January seemed to be set off surrounding the rescue of a spider….sort of. While having a conversation with my boss in the hallway, we simultaneously … Continue reading
Posted in Are you kidding me?, Coping, Humor, Rant, Uncategorized, Vent, Wildlife, Winter
Tagged cable TV, car delivery, Cataract Surgery, Cranky, Eye Surgery, last straw, satellite dish, Spiders
2 Comments
Appliance Decor
We have a stacker washing machine in the bathroom upstairs, one of those top-loaders with the dryer that is actually attached to it and hangs over the top. It fits in a narrow area that used to be a closet. … Continue reading
Posted in Are you kidding me?, Coping, Humor, Uncategorized, Winter
Tagged Appliances, broken dryer, broken washer, frustration, home delivery, laundry, snowstorm, stacking washer, Victorian house, washing machines
3 Comments
Same Time Next Year
For about the last seventeen years or so, my family and I have been invited to a New Year’s Day brunch at the home of a wonderful couple. They tend to invite a core of their same friends year after … Continue reading
Posted in Aging, Hearing Impaired, Uncategorized, Winter
Tagged aging, annual brunch, annual party, capuchin monkey, connections, friendships, Kindness, new year's day
6 Comments
Out With A Bang, In With A Smash
Those of you who may have read The Shards of Our Lives earlier this year here may recall my bull-in-a-china-shop Significant Other and his propensity for breakage. New Year’s Eve – the ever familiar crash and “Oh, shit!” It was … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized, Winter
Tagged broken dishes, bull in a china shop, clumsy, old year new year
3 Comments
A Nice Start
The Clivia bloomed.
Posted in Gardening, House plants, Uncategorized, Winter
Tagged a nice star, Beginnings, Clivia, New Year, winter
5 Comments
And We Begin Anew
Here it comes…. 2012, our self-imposed start date to begin anew. Let’s work to make it a good one. Let’s all use our collective thoughts to move forward into something healthy, and intelligent, and kind. Wishing all fresh beginnings and … Continue reading
Posted in Perspective, Uncategorized, Winter
Tagged 2012, Happy New Year, New beginnings, New Year
6 Comments
A Poisoned World
Recently I read that under Proposition 65 in California, artificial Christmas trees are required to carry a warning label. There is now consideration in New York State for consumer legislation to disclose a warning indicating a lead hazard in artificial … Continue reading
A Skill Not Possessed
I can’t wrap. It’s an art I never mastered and I am sure it is connected to the same ADD tendencies that cause me to literally cry if I have to paint a room. I just do not have the … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized, Winter
Tagged gift wrapping, Gifts, impatience, neatness, patience, Presents, the art of gift wrapping
10 Comments
Why I Love the Shortest Day of the Year
It’s plain and simple. Once you hit the shortest day of the year, every day after that brings just a little bit more light and takes us ever so closer back to Spring. Hail the Winter Solstice! Here comes the … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized, Winter
Tagged Oxalis, Purple Oxalis, shortest day of the year, Solstice, Winter Solstice
5 Comments
The New Rules
It has been almost a year since I put up my first post after waffling about putting up a tree for the holidays, deciding to do it, ending up getting into it in a deep way which had nothing to do with the … Continue reading
Posted in Perspective, Uncategorized, Winter
Tagged Change, changing traditions, children growing up, Christmas, Families, Holidays, new rules, Traditions
7 Comments
The Febs
The Febs We have officially slipped into February, the groundhog is a wimp, and I think I am coming down with a case of “The Febs”. It was in the middle of one of those endless winters a number of years ago that I … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized, Winter
Tagged getting past the winter, winter blues, winter doldrums
3 Comments
One Redeeming Feature
I made this discovery only because we are experiencing some feisty weather around here this winter. A couple of days ago it was -14 degrees Farenheit here. That little dash is not a typo, it’s a minus; that is fourteen degrees … Continue reading
Posted in Humor, Uncategorized, Winter
Tagged Hot Flash, hot flashes, middle-aged, winter, women
3 Comments
A Little Piece of Sun
A friend gave me some Paperwhite bulbs (Narcissus papyraceus for you botanical types) for Christmas. For those who might be unfamiliar, you force the bulbs in a pot indoors with the idea that they will bloom in the winter and … Continue reading
Posted in Friends, Spring, Uncategorized, Winter
Tagged forcing bulbs, Gardening, house plants, narcissus, paperwhites, taste of spring
3 Comments
Ornaments of the Heart
December 31, 2010 It’s the first holiday in decades where we did not celebrate at home and the first year I have had to alternate the holiday, since my daughter has gotten married and has informed me that the rules … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized, Winter
Tagged Christmas, christmas ornaments, emotions, holiday reflections, Holidays, Memories, reflections, rituals, routines
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