here we go

 ...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 4 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 1 AM EST MONDAY...Heavy snow expected. Total snow accumulations of 8 to 12 inches. Winds gusting as high as 35 mph.

Everybody ready?

Extra water buckets filled and brought inside?

Flashlights, laptops, phones charged?

Candles and matches at hand?

Something to read/knit?

Just in case.

~~~~~

markmaking 2023

 

Turning the page on Year Six of Daily Markmaking.

january

february

march

april

may

june

july

august

september

october

november

december

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minutes of light

Victoria Crowe Large Tree Group 1975

It was 11F when Moxie and I got up this morning. Brisk. Invigorating. Also, dark. I opened the door for Moxie, hoping the goats wouldn't hear the door opening and start thinking they would be served breakfast before dawn today. Generally on a cold, dry day I won't feed until the sun has appeared over the stone wall, dazzling through the still-dark tree trunks - at about 8:06 these days. My goats sleep very cozily tucked in, and there is no reason to make them all wake up, get up, and stand around for an hour in the dimness of predawn, shivering, in order to have their grub. But by the time the sun has appeared, everyone is ready to be up and at it. Violet is hollering, "I heard you open that door THREE HOURS AGO, where have you been?!" and I'm out by the barn, lining up feed pans.

Last night I dozed off early, but woke (for the first of several times, as usual) at 10:20 PM. I got up, fed the stove, and then realized:

I had woken for the Winter Solstice!

It occurred at 10:27 PM here.

Perhaps I has even been woken BY the Winter Solstice. Who knows?

Anyway, as a person who lives very much by the sun, it felt GOOD to know there will be more (and more and more) minutes of light in the days ahead.

I like the dark as much as the next person - in fact, I keep a chaise under the portico year-round so I can drag it out on clear nights and tilt back to look at the sky for a while. "A while" is usually determined not by how cold it is, but by how cold I get: I used to have a old sleeping bag on hand just for this purpose, and could stay outside indefinitely. (That sleeping bag seems to have disappeared; I may soon replace it.) In recent years, my spine does not "do" tilting my head back, so the chaise is the only way to go - and a very nice way it is, too. Sometimes if the cats happen to be outside, they will hop up and sky-watch with me. Which is perfect.

So, as I say, I like the dark. But it's a lot easier to get things done in daylight. And the sun, especially at this time of year, genuinely lifts my spirits. There's no better way to describe it.

I hope everyone is well and happy and joyfully anticipating whatever you do for the upcoming holidays, if you celebrate them in any way. And if this time of year is in any way sad or stressful for you, I hope you can find ways to help yourself feel more at ease. For what it's worth, I find even quite simple activities or treats or personal rituals can be very powerful.

Wishing everyone enough of whatever lifts your spirits.

~~~~~~

and the winner is

 Everyone loves a clicky spinner, right? I entered the names of the 11 commenters on last week's post, spun the Picker Wheel random chooser - clickclickclickclickclicketyclick - and here's the result:

Congratulations to Chris from Boise!

Thanks to everyone who left a comment, and thanks for the lovely birthday wishes! You all helped make my birthday a special day.

Chris, when you have a chance, please drop me an email and we can sort the (very few) details: q.piper at hotmail dot com

~~~~~

revisiting the giveaway giveaway

I am not giving away this book!

This lovely book arrived in the mail today - a cookbook co-authored by Appalachia blog-pal Tipper Pressley, from Blind Pig and the Acorn. It was one of the prizes in Tipper's November daily giveaway, and I was thrilled to win it. This book was a long time in the works, and a labor of love. It was worth the wait.

Tipper called this one of the "flawed" copies; i.e., a copy that was scuffed or damaged in some way between publisher and sale, or else one where Tipper or co-author Jim Casada made some sort of error in the signing of the book. My copy is one of the latter category, and I was tickled to bits to see the abbreviated inscription "To Glenda from" which must have been the point at which an error was noticed.

I think "Glenda" may become my alternate identity.   

Winning this prize made me realize that it's been quite a while since I've done a giveaway here on Comptonia. 

Long-time readers may recall the Kiva giveaways - here's a link to the first one, which describes Kiva in detail - which everyone seemed to enjoy whether they won or not. Which is perfect. So I'm going to do that again.

I'll prepay a Kiva loan of $25, and the winner of the giveaway will choose the recipient. It's a giveaway of a giveaway. Okay? Okay!

To enter, just leave a comment on this post, before the 18th of December.

Now, I don't know how many people are reading my blog these days. I know I lost a great many long-time readers during the extended hiatus following Piper's death. I am grateful for those who have returned - or appeared - and especially those of you who leave comments, which enliven my workaday life considerably. I'm hoping some visitors who have not left a comment yet, may feel inclined to do so this time. Oh, and please feel free to share this with anyone you think might be interested in Kiva.

If only a couple of people leave a comment, that's just fine. But if a few more can be gently coaxed out from reader-only status into reader-and-commenter status, well, that will be a gift to me. 

Which will be especially timely - just like receiving Tipper's book today! - because tomorrow is my birthday.

Okay. On the 18th, one week from today, I'll do a random draw, post the results on the blog, and email the Kiva info to the winner who will have the fun of choosing a recipient. And I'll tell you in advance: if you've never done a Kiva loan before, you are in for a treat.

~~~~~