frodo

November/2003 comments: Read | Post | LJ

luxury of silence

This past weekend, Jeff and I went up to the cottage for our last visit before the ice came in. Some people think we're crazy for going up in such cold weather, but to tell you the truth, I far prefer visiting the cottage in this kind of weather than during midsummer. For one thing, it's far less crowded, both at the cottage, on the roads, and on the lake. A part of me also likes the slight discomfort and hassle of not-quite-perfect weather, Nature's reminder that we shouldn't get too complacent.

And I certainly got my wish. When we arrived at the lake, we found that the road leading to the cottagers' parking lot and our motorboat was blocked:





Jeff ended up walking around the small bay, getting the motorboat, and breaking a path through the thin layer of ice with a paddle:



Notice the paddle lying on the ice after slipping out
of Jeff's gloves partway across. Fortunately there was another
paddle in the boat.


When we finally arrived at the cottage, we discovered that the power was out. This meant no electric lights or heating, no electric oven or microwave. We briefly considered turning back, also because there was a nonzero chance that the thin layer of ice in the bay would become too thick for the motorboat the next day. In the end, we opted for the adventure.

Our own cabin had no source of heat, so we decided to stay in Jeff's father's cabin and keep the fire going in the woodstove. Until the cabin warmed up, I wore about six layers on top: a T-shirt, turtleneck, fleece jacket, fleece vest, another fleece jacket, and my Gortex jacket, gradually removing one layer at a time. It was at least 20 minutes before I removed the first layer. :-) A small pot of water on top of the wood stove for hot chocolate took about an hour for the water to start boiling.

We took our steaming mugs of hot chocolate and sat out on the deck, watched the lake for while, reveling in the luxury of silence. Living downtown, we rarely experience complete silence; there are always traffic noises, construction going on nearby, the electrical hum of appliances.

Dinner? Pasta with tomato sauce heated up in a pan on the woodstove, ready-made salad (Jeff mixed the salad with the dressing right in the bag), French loaf, red wine. Everything was delicious. The sunlight was gone by 6 pm, so we lit a lot of candles and a gas lantern; we also had small headlamps. We had planned to play Jeff's new Lord of the Rings board game and have a dessert of S'Mores Pop Tarts ( I chose the dessert, can you tell?) but we decided to go to bed instead, were asleep by 9:30 pm.

It was a wonderful cottage visit, one of my favorites this year. On the way home, we both agreed that even if we had known there was no power, we still would have gone up.

November/2003 comments: Read | Post | LJ

Jamie!

John, Kristen and their new baby, Jamie (born yesterday!)


Wow, thanks for all the kind comments about my Gathering dress in Livejournal and Blatherchat (*blush*). Thanks also to Jeff, who gave me the dress as a gift. :-)

So I finished Christmas shopping for my nieces and nephews yesterday from the comfort of my home office, via the Mastermind Toys Web site. They had a huge variety of toys and puzzles and books for children; I've always enjoyed shopping in the actual store, but it's somewhat out of the way, and I was also worried about having to lug around, wrap, and label packages without tiring out my arms.

The toys are all categorized with photos and a detailed description of each item. As I selected each toy for my shopping cart, I labeled it with the name of the child for whom it was intended. From time to time, I would view the contents of my shopping cart to see what children I was missing, and occasionally swap items around. The more items I ordered, the lower the shipping fee per item. When I finally checked out, I chose the style of wrapping paper (free of charge) and name tag style.

I love online shopping. What about the rest of you? Have you ever shopped for Christmas presents online? If so, what Web site? I actually have an ulterior motive for asking; I'm hoping to do the rest of my Christmas shopping online as well. :-)

November/2003 comments: Read | Post | LJ

Alles Gute

Picked up my altered dress for
The Gathering today.


CONGRATS to John and Kristen Chew on the birth of baby Jamie at 7:52 a.m.!

Apologies for the scarcity of Blathering lately. In an effort to speed recovery of my arms, I've been placing priority on my paid writing assignments, telling myself that I would post a Blathering if my arms were feeling up to it at the end of the day.

Physiotherapy is going well, and my recovery is slow but steady. I found out that I was mispronouncing my physiotherapist's name, which is Mikal (sp?), not Michelle. Interesting chats while she is zapping my tendons; apparently she used to be a professional swimmer in Israel, had to give it up when she joined the army, plays the flute and guitar, is thinking of starting up a band with friends, is a huge Genesis fan.

German studies also progress slowly but steadily. My friend Anita (who lives in Vienna) and I have started a correspondence in German which I'm thoroughly enjoying. After she sends me a short e-mail, I print it out and make notes in the margin as I look up words I don't know. Then I compose my reply, which is a mishmash of English and butchered German. I'm hoping that over time, my e-mail messages will contain more German and less English, and that my German will gradually improve.

German grammar continues to bewilder me, but I am determined to figure it out eventually. It became clear to me early on that there was only so much I could learn without also mastering some of the basics of the grammar. I adore The Goethe Institut; they let me take out huge armfuls of books and videos, and I can keep renewing the ones I want to keep. Right now I'm working my way through the Alles Gute video series, which was originally broadcast on television, and comes with a workbook.

Only three weeks until we leave for Vienna!

November/2003 comments: Read | Post | LJ

dreams

My brother and me with my grandparents.


In my dream last night, I was walking on a road late at night with my brother and sister. We were all much younger, and my brother was carrying his pink and white teddy bear. I half-recognized where we were, a tantalizing feeling that I had dreamed of this place before. I knew it was going to be a long walk, but I also knew it was very important that we not stop.

Ruth and Jim started getting tired, but I encouraged them to keep walking. Finally my little brother gave up, just lay down on the road and fell asleep. I picked him up and we kept walking. Then I woke up. Dreams of my brother always make me wistful, but I cherish them nonetheless; I have them so infrequently. For months after Jim died, I had a recurring dream in which Jim and I were standing in the middle of an open field of long grass, blue sky above and the sun soaking everything in warm gold. He was smiling at me, and I could see the breeze stirring his hair. I would wake up crying, but oddly comforted.

One of my novels waiting to be edited is about dreams. I've always been fascinated by how the subconscious takes little bits and pieces from our waking lives and weaves them into a story. Sometimes I try to analyze my dreams, but most of the time I just leave them be.

November/2003 comments: Read | Post | LJ