Life in the Bristolwood

Having grown up with Christmas songs extolling sleigh rides, white Christmases, and winter wonderlands, is it any wonder I feel a bit cheated? Cheated, you ask? Didn’t the Bristolwood have a glorious shroud of white enveloping all the terrain?

The simple answer is, yes. However, (oh, I STILL dislike the “however’s”!) somehow, the weather became a little disoriented and we had temperatures several degrees above freezing today! As though the warm weather wasn’t enough, didn’t it decide to rain as well?

Yes, this is a photo I snapped this afternoon. Christmas lights on the front railing and *rain* spilling over the gutters, causing a natural waterfall on my front porch. How disheartening. How disappointing.

Just to add a little insult to injury, as I walked outside to get something, I noticed that the ditch behind the house was overflowing the culvert and water was rushing downhill through the woods as though a new stream had formed! I quickly called Ben to clear the leaves from the plugged culvert, and immediately, the water began to follow its predetermined course once again. Ben then checked all the drainage ditches, raking leaves out of them so they would behave as we wanted, rather than running amuck like wild children!

The wind seems to have curtailed somewhat, although a smallish tree fell behind the house, onto one of our paths in the woods.  As I watched out the back door this morning, the winds blew wildly, making it appear that “spector” children were playing on the swingset! Never mind this morning when I opened my eyes, the trees outside my window were swaying side to side, giving the illusion of an army of trees, marching toward the house!

And so the battle for winter continues. As I drove past the ski mountain this evening, there were very few cars there. Ben commented one would have to be nuts to ski while being peppered with raindrops!

The kid inside me optimistically discounts any forecasts for less than a white Christmas, but the grown-up me reads the forecast with predictions of highs in the 40′s this week and just shakes my head.  Perhaps next year, I will have saved some money ahead so we can go on a vacation to a place where there is real snow! Perhaps Antarctica. Or Siberia!

Not sure if this is a full moon or not, but I just took this a few minutes ago! And no, it isn’t blurry because of my shaking-camera-syndrome! The clouds are whizzing by so fast up there, it is almost mind-boggling! We are under (yet another) weather alert….this time for flood watch (not applicable where we are located) and high wind warnings. Needless to say, the latter alert looks as though it arrived early, as it supposedly starts at 7 am tomorrow.

So…..today, I ventured forth from our home to join the frazzled frenzied rush of last-minute shoppers. There were a few little things I hadn’t picked up yet, so I bravely faced the onslaught and lived to tell about it! My mom worked at a mental hospital as an RN for a few years and she said many times strange things happen when the moon is full. Must be why I went out!

The stores were so full of shoppers, one had to move judiciously and determinedly. (is that a word?) Some folks really did look as though they might bite your head off if crossed, while others resembled mindless bobble-heads, smiles on their faces that looked as though they had been applied like makeup in the morning!

I shopped for a couple of hours and found everything I was looking for, although inventories do look depleted in many areas!

I came home in time to make dinner. I made chicken, baked potatoes, salad, and mixed veggies.  For dessert, oranges! I had bought a big bag and they are so drippy and good!

After dinner, we sat down to watch the Buffalo Sabres (hockey) play the Philadelphia Fliers. The game was nip and tuck most of the time after Philly scored two goals to lead the Sabres. In the last 7 seconds of the game, it appeared Philly won for all intents and purposes…..that is, until Buffalo scored! It ended in a tie, so the game went into overtime. No score. After overtime comes a shootout. Three players from each team try to score on the goalies. Well, we managed to score on the goalie (who was a goalie for Buffalo last year) and Buffalo won, 6-5!

I have been watching games, but not saying a lot as Buffalo wasn’t doing so well, but like they so often do, they are getting better and better as time passes.

Only a couple more days until Christmas. It seems like this year has gone by far too rapidly…..