It is, technically, a white Christmas. Although the temperature is well above freezing and it rained last night and the roads and pathways are covered with a translucent slush, broken here and there by the ice-glistening grass or clumps of mud poking through, we are far enough north and high enough up that the ground is still mostly covered in snow and when you cast your eyes over the fields and gaze at the forests and mountains in the distance, the dominant colors are gray and white.
I went for a walk this morning and it was very pretty. I enjoyed seeing all the animal tracks in the snow. I’m a city slicker, no tracker, but I could see that some were birds and I think the larger ones were deer, or maybe hares.
I moved to the side of the road as a car passed and he offered me a ride and I waved him off. I saw him, parked, a couple of minutes later, examining his hives. What happens to the bees in the winter? Are any of them still in there, alive? I guess they must be, the cycle of life can’t be interrupted, but there are no flowers for them to feast on and it’s too bloody cold to be out flying around, so maybe they hibernate or something. We exchanged a few words, he seemed totally mystified that I was just out for a walk on such a day.
In our ordered, regulated, competitive society too many people won’t just go out for a walk without any particular reason. If you don’t have a rifle in your hand for hunting, or a set of golf clubs, or at the very least a camera, then what the hell are you doing?
In an hour or so we’ll sit down for our Christmas dinner of carp and potato salad, and then the kids will dive into their presents which, of course, is the highlight and the reason for the season.
Happy Holidays, everybody.
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Happy Holidays to you and yours. We are also having Potato Salad, Amish style with egg and sweet pickles, ham, green bean dish, etc. NY cheesecake too. I miss seeing the snow and fireplaces, but not the cold.