random snow thots ..

i'm sitting here, listening to jack johnson's 'sleep through the static' .. i've only recently been introduced to his music and lyrics .. i'd heard reference to 'banana pancakes' a couple of times during conversations, as though it were a code of some sort .. not knowing jack's music, i couldn't begin to understand .. then, i heard 'in between dreams' and there it was .. 'banana pancakes' .. take a break .. leave the busyness of your immediate world and pause .. sigh .. relax in knowing all you need is right here, right now .. ah, banana pancakes .. i get it! .. i simply hadn't thought it in terms of pancakes .. well, who is to say what words need to be used to refer us to the present moment .. where "we have everything we need .. and everything we need is enough" ..

makes me think of christmas .. when is all we have enough .. this year, as in many past, i observed that the spirit of christmas has slipped from the heart to the pocketbook .. sad, really .. sad that we humans get so caught up in buying to fulfill perceived needs .. sad that children have come to believe that getting more stuff (adding to the mountains already accumulated over such a short time on the planet), is somehow fulfilling .. i feel sorry for us .. in my own random thots, it occurs to me that we are way off the track .. heart to pocketbook is a drastic shift in consciousness .. not to say that it is "wrong," because who is to say what is wrong or right .. i tend to think of it more in terms of spans of time .. as in, it took a span of time for us to get where we are now, i wonder what span of time will pass before we get back on track .. being here, now, where everything we have is enough ..

christmas is so not a now situation .. at least, we've built it up to such a disproportion that as soon as hallowe'en has passed, we are being prompted to think about christmas, about those we love, and about how we have to spend money to demonstrate that love .. money equals love ..hmmmm .. i'm not sure i'm convinced on that score .. however, i don't mean to bore you all with these seemingly disgruntled philosophical ramblings of my own mind re the spirit of christmas .. on the flip side, i observe that there is a more intensified love between us during this time of year .. in my own experience, my heart seems to open a little wider to include people beyond my immediate scope .. i drop a few more dollars in a busker's hat .. help more elderly cross the snowy road .. smile more .. i am more aware that love is demonstrated in a myriad of different little things i do .. but is it christmas that brings out this sensitivity to love .. or would it be here regardless .. could it be here regardless of the season .. perhaps it is always here, now .. maybe we just aren't .. yet ..



i believe we are on our way .. may we glide gently into the new year ..

a winter wonder land ..

right now, we're enjoying a winter wonder land here .. it's quite an unusual occurrence for us to have over a foot of snow on the ground (not sure how many centimeters .. lots) for any length of time .. this year the snow has been falling for over a week .. that's unusual, too .. often what happens is we get a big dump, and then it rains .. not so this year ..


the walk to and from the ferry now means stumbling along the ruts previously made by others with vehicles .. trucks and cars, mainly, as likely, golf carts would just get hung up on the snow between the ruts .. so, getting around is a bit different for us .. in town, it's a whole other ball game .. there isn't really enough snow removing equipment to make much of a dent in what's graced the island .. however, i think, things could be so much worse .. for this, and for what's occurring with the weather in other places on the planet these days, we can be thankfull ..





in all of this, i am feeling a little bit smug .. as a gardener i am out and about, puttering around in some fashion, in some garden, on any day that it isn't pouring down with rain, or blowing up a storm .. now that the ground is covered in white, there isn't really anywhere to garden .. and so i sit .. and i read .. or i knit .. or i get up and bake .. i've had so much time at home that i managed to get christmas gifts made, packed up and shipped out to varying places in the country with time to spare .. and still i have time to sit, and read, or knit or blog or not .. it's such a pleasure, really, and every winter in times of snow i get more comfortable, in myself, with just sitting .. and reading .. or knitting .. or whatever else suits my fancy .. i am revelling in my non gardening time .. how lovely ..

oh, and i get outside at least once a day .. because i can get cabin fever after a few hours of being inside .. i take my camera and off i go .. if i can't be out there gardening, then i can be out there taking pictures of gardens under snow .. someone has to do it, i suppose ..

winter flowering magic ..

below is a photo of helleborus niger flower buds .. this is the first of many different hellebores that will bloom in this winter .. hellebores were one of phil's favourites for the garden because they are able to tolerate varying amounts of shade and, of course, because they bloom during winter months ..


i attempted to get a good close up of one of the hellebore's buds .. i wish you could see it the way i do ..


and, i've been watching this witchhazel (hamammelis intermedia) for a few weeks waiting to see just what i'm seeing here .. this crack of colour is stunning .. what a performance this one is starting to put on for us ..