after the rain

the solstice has come and gone, we're on the downhill side of the light. i don't want to even think about that and thankfully we won't really see it for awhile. it's still light 'til 11 or so and the sun comes up around 4:30 a.m. (that's kind of annoying). if it would just stop raining, we could soak it in properly. it rained most of today, and i did my best to ignore it, spending time tending to various chicken emergencies (a variety of nesting hens, chicks hatching and general kerfluffles), planting radishes, picking strawberries and weeding in the garden anyway (note to self: it's easy to weed when the soil is wet). thankfully this evening, the sun broke through just in time for a glorious, golden sunset.

we've had days of good food (way too much meat), writing on the table, laughter, a trip to the beach, a proper bonfire for skt. hans (midsummer) and an afternoon at the flea market. i have a million notes of things to blog and tons of photos to share, but that will be for tomorrow. right now, i've got a date with orhan pamuk at the museum of innocence.

lions and tigers and bears, oh my

they say that if march comes in like a lion, it goes out like a lamb. and since today is decidedly lion-like with roaring wind and driving slush (yes, slush, not sleet, not rain, not snow, but clumps of slush), i'm going to hold march to it come the end.

i'm completely useless for going on a second day. i woke up yesterday with a crick in my neck that got worse all day. i can't turn my head and definitely can't look down without sharp intake of breath and lightheadedness from the pain. we discussed meningitis last night on twitter, but i don't have a fever, i'm my usual cold-blooded below-normal temperature, so i think i've pinched a nerve or something. and this bone-cold day doesn't help. but it's also impossible to sew or knit (i actually tried to knit again yesterday, since one of the things i started long ago would make a great scarf for my new orange coat) (i haven't mentioned my new orange coat, have i?) or crochet (still haven't managed a granny square - won't someone come and teach me?).

i finished life of pi, so now i've picked up stieg larsson's mænd der hader kvinder, which i read a couple of years ago, but i'm still in rereading mode these days. after the bitter disappointment of the end of life of pi, i had to go back to a reread. i've decided that i refuse to believe the end. there had to really be a tiger in that boat. but i am sad that richard parker ran off into the woods. and what was that seaweed island all about? i guess one would begin to hallucinate if one was adrift in the pacific for 7 months.

and speaking of hallucinations, i wouldn't mind hallucinating some daffodils or snowdrops or crocus out in the garden, but there's still snow everywhere, tho' the slush should melt some of it. in all, it's a rather dreary. my favorite gap jeans are on their last legs and i'm not even sure i can patch them.  i found a hole in my favorite wool sock this morning and so did sabin. we're just so ready for winter to be over. i'm thinking of going back into hibernation 'til spring comes in earnest.