In the land of the cold sunshine

"Under blue and silver sky, far from the sea snow-laden breezes, wild and free
come to do-si-do my love and me
in the land of the cold sunshine

where the highway runs, a scar, right through the snow

every turn a vista or a glittering plateau

we take the high road
through the land of the cold sunshine "
                                                                                                        -S.J Tucker "Cold Sunshine"


Here in Rockford and in all towns of the Tennessee Valley, everything is coated in ice. All the roofs sport icy teeth, all the tree coated limb from limb. It is cold, wind and white. Last night around 8pm we lost power and did not regain it until eight hours later. I awoke at 5am to being bathed in the golden light of my overhead lamp and reluctantly dressed myself to wander downstairs and attend the fireplace. The house was chilly but not badly so. Most of the house is made of red brick and prudence saw that I had turned on my space heater and charged my phone hours before the black out. We were low on candles but this family still manage to turn up five jar candles, one pillar and half a dozen tea lights. I found the old light blub keychain that, thanks to its LED bulb, made for a great little lamp. We made it through with plenty of water and food, if a little less light than we would like. The point was that, even during the black out, we were warm and prepared.

 Thank you Jenna Woginrich for the wonder blog about constructing a black out bag. I will be making one this week. That's Episode 14: Make a Black Out Bag for any who would like to take a peek. You can find her on Youtube or take a look at http://coldantlerfarm.blogspot.com/

I hope you all are snug in your own homes, your animals fed and clan warm by your side. Times like this remind me to be grateful for the comforts of this age but also grateful for the ice that will melt and fill our rivers, lakes and streams. We live in a cycle and this storms is but a part of it. Tomorrow I expect to return to my day job and even work Saturday to make up the hours we have missed. For into the yoke of work I slip my head and shoulders, for there are miles to go and miles on my heart.