Aquarius

"When the moon is in the 7th house, and Jupiter aligns with Mars, then peace will guide the planet and love will rule the stars..."

Love and a stomach full of garlic. Which means throat, breath, and skin full of garlic. Garlic in the pores. Garlic toxicity from Dante's. One would assume that Aquarius, the water bearer, possesses enough water to douse the fire of garlic. It reminds me of a garlic story.

A few years ago I rode the train to Boston with 3 Italian girlfriends. They boarded 4o miles north and already had drunk 2 bloody Marys each by the time they reached my stop. I found them by following the exuding scent of garlic and the rowdy laughter.

There were no vampires within a whole train car of those women.

This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius.

Jan 22

Birthday dinner was postponed by Winter Storm Warning Number Four. There's 8 inches of new powder. The skis tunnel under the snow like moles in our yard in the spring, just below the visible surface, only with straighter furrows.

Before the wind starts to blow, the woods are "lovely, dark and deep".

Dante's tonight for hot pasta and a roaring fire.

To Dante's

This evening there is a birthday party scheduled at Dante's Italian restaurant, not just for any 12 year old, but for my namesake. The friendship bracelets are resurrected and the whole day remains to make two more, for a dozen. Maybe I should just buy her a dozen eggs. Or a dozen doughnuts. Or a copy of The Dirty Dozen.

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha

HaPPY BIRTHDAY!

Namesakes do funny things to a person.

Jan 20

Where's the bird feeder?

Oops, on the ground below.

Wait! Is that fur at one end?

Eew, a stuck squirrel. Is it alive?

Sure enough it gets smaller when I tap on the side of the feeder.

Jim has to take the feeder apart at the base to free the squirrel.

Lucky squirrel!

Full Wolf Moon

Of note:

Minus 5 degrees.

Third winter storm watch.

Truck wouldn't start at gas station pump.

Starter has a "bad spot" on it.

Lost 6+ pounds so far as a member of Weight Watchers.

How?

By tracking everything that goes in the cake hole.

Not only do I track deer and porcupines, but wolves too.

Wolfing down food.

It must be time to sabotage and visit someplace special.

Happy Full Wolf Moon!

Jan 18

The deer have been following my ski tracks laid down yesterday. There is now a half mile route through the tree nursery with a little up and a little down. Enough up to raise a sweat and enough down to feel the wind on my Peruvian hat tassels.

These are the little shuffling wide-body tracks from the critter next to the apple stump, one set coming, and another going. Just like the porcupine with pigeon-toed, wide-bodied, shuffling gait, I make my way through the woods on skis.

Jan 17

I hope you recall the apples placed on the salt stump last week.

That was B.S. (Before Snow). This morning the investigation required skis.

I didn't have to brush anything off. There was one gnawed apple and one whole apple in the hollow of the stump.

A closer inspection reveals little rodent-y teeth. Or a little deer, I suppose, but no tracks. Just a big dog (Not T-Dog) passing by and a little shuffling creature, maybe a porcupine.

Jan 16

How 'bout them Packers?

Mt. Sneffels is wearing a friendship necklace,

a mala of 108 knots,

in honor of Green Bay.

It used to be "Our Favre, who art in Lambeau..."

Then followed, "We'll never forget you, Brent."

Now it's, "How 'bout them Packers?"

Jan 15

Twice in the night Daisy wanted to go outside.

Coat over pjs,

wool hat,

slip-on shoes with no socks,

out into the 1 degree night,
no wind,

Orion above,

the snow crunching like gunshots underfoot.

Both times she stands in the snow

and stares into the woods.

She forgets where she is.

She's cold.

She climbs back onto the porch wanting in.

She hasn't done what she set out to do.

Now she wants her night time treat.

So do I.

Ah, to do what you want to do, (go to bed)

To avoid doing what you do not wish to do, (harm Daisy)

To undo that which you have already done, (dressed for winter)

And a fourth tenet that I seem to have forgotten.

Jan 14

Shovel or ski?

Both.

Jimmy shovels and snow blows with Daisy.

Julie skis

This is where she's going.

This is where she's been.

Jan 13

Well, that was fun.

Where would you like to be snowed in?

We chose the lake, with the fireplace, rather than the home with the tractor.

Snow couldn't help but creep in through the cracks in the northeast corner. The weatherman said we didn't make it as a blizzard since the winds were sustained at 35 mph for only 2 hours, and it needs 3 for the definition. Horizontal snow. Daisy still went out frivolously and stared into the wind like a seagull.

Jan 12

Will it be finger pointing with a verbal gun noise, or benign disregard?

1/11/11

Two Vietnam verterans became legends in river rafting circles when they put in at Marsh Creek, a tributary that flowed into the Middle Fork of the Salmon River, and floated the whole Middle Fork to the Salmon River of No Return in Idaho. Their heaviest load was the alcohol they carried. In various states on intoxication, they identified Velvet Falls as they went over it, they ripped the raft hitting the cliffs at Pistol Creek where the river made a 90 degree turn, they survived a snow storm in wet sleeping bags by the grace and heat of the dog that slept between them, and they returned to tell their story. They had only one rule: You must be on the river by 11:11.

Oooh, 1/11/11 at 11:11.

Armistice Day WWI, Balance, Artistic and Inventive Genius,
A positive connection to the mysteries of the universe,
et al.

Jan 10

I played Hungarian and a Sonatina by Clementi. It's funny how the hands fight each other for dominance on the keys, the right stumbling over the fingering and the left ponderous in the bass range. My favorite are the trills. Like patting your stomach with your left hand and rubbing your head with your right.

Jan 9

These Macintosh apples have been languishing in the fruit and vegetable drawer since October. Maybe the deer would make better use of them. Daisy and I will check it out in a couple days to see if there are any remains.