The Holly Bears A Berry...

Deciduous holly... winterberry, Norfolk Botanical Garden
(Click picture to enlarge)

"The holly and the ivy
When they are both full grown
Of all the trees that are in the wood
The holly bears the crown
O' the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry harp
Sweet singing of the choir.

The holly bears a berry
As red as any blood,
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
To do poor sinners good.
O' the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry harp
Sweet singing of the choir."
~ Cecil Sharp, The Holly and the Ivy ( 17th Century Christmas Carol)

"It was a grey and dismal day"...as it does seem to be so often in winter and without the clean blanket of white snow to offset the damp and rain. We have entered that time of year when you can "feel the bone structure in the landscape" (Andrew Wyeth) and when the trees clack and crack together as the strong north wind blows. Everything is gray.. the sky, the tree trunks, even the grass that tends to stay a greenish tinge all winter here, seems gray. And yet when you look closely, you can find pops of color here and there.

Now is the glory of the holly. We mostly think of the evergreen holly with the scalloped spiny leaves and red berries often tucked in between the leaves and visible only upon close inspection. But my favorites (besides the soft evergreen varieties) are the deciduous hollies or native winterberries. I have seen these grow into tree forms and in the midst of winter you can see group plantings of them with branches covered by bright red berries. When framed by a gray winter sky, these pop with red fire and warm the space around them. The roses and coneflowers may rule the summer... but these holly are the queens of winter.

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Where Is My Weather Expert When I Need Her? Seattle, Of Course!

Sudden white out..... and I didn't catch it at its worst!

"The trouble with weather forecasting is that it's right too often for us to ignore it and wrong too often for us to rely on it." ~ Patrick Young

Saturday's weather forecast was for temperatures in the low 40's... mostly sunny... no chance of precipitation. It started out that way. The little birds flocked to the recently filled bird feeders and the four resident squirrels that were so small last year and ... well, so squirrelly acting.. have grown and filled out and are now more persistent in their attempts to get up to the feeders; not successful, but persistent. I was anemically trying to get the Christmas decorations down, but my energy was really not into it and I found myself at the computer working on pictures and trying to figure out how to learn Lightroom and Photoshop CS5 that I got for Christmas.

Suddenly... and it really seemed sudden.. the light in the room faded to a dark gray and it wasn't so much this change that made me turn to look out the window, but rather the sound... a howling, swirling wind that whistled around the copper roof and rattled the windows... the north winter winds that often herald a change in weather. This sound of sudden wind made me turn and what I saw was remarkable... a total white out!

A snow burst.. short-lived...

I ran.. OK, I didn't run.. I hobbled.. downstairs and grabbed the camera to shoot these pictures. It was really a white out and the blowing was unbelievable... white snow flakes blowing sideways, plastering up against the northwest sides of the trees and on the fences and sides of the cars. I turned on the weather channel, local on the 8's and expected to see current conditions listed as "snow".. but, instead... "partly sunny". PARTLY SUNNY!? Look out the window! No sun anywhere.

Fifteen minutes worth of snow....

This "burst" continued for fifteen to twenty minutes, leaving the grass covered and the streets wet. The temperature never did reach the low 40's and when the snow started it was 37℉ but quickly fell to 33℉. The skies began to lighten and the snow slowed after that, with flurries for another hour. The wind died down a bit, although it could never be called calm. Another less heavy burst of snow occurred a few hours later... still, no mention of any chance of snow in the forecast.

According to the weather forecast.. this never happened!

The sudden snow was never acknowledged and the sun did eventually come out and it melted off most areas, but pelleted ice was still present on the hot tub lid come Sunday morning and the temperatures have been colder than forecast all weekend.. This burst must have been an anomaly but had it continued for even another hour, we would have had an inch or so of snow. And where was my weather expert when I needed her to check her menagerie of weather charts to help forecast this snow? Clear across the country on her way to Seattle.

Now, this huge snow and ice storm is crossing over the southern states and is into North Carolina already. We have no winter weather advisories or warnings in place. There is a forecast for light wintery mix but no indication of accumulation. Perhaps it won't make it this far... they say our temperatures will be too high for snow.. but then, they said that Saturday too. I think I should go out and get a bit of salt for the driveway and a snow shovel, just to make sure... What can it hurt? I think I should call Nyssa and see what her crystal ball says.

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Carmi's Theme ~ wet

Wet And Wild

Sprucing up or just playing around?

"You don't drown by falling in the water, you drown by staying there." ~ Edwin Cole

I don't know if this goose is just playing around with the water or really taking a bath. But the old saying is true... "like water off of a duck's back"... the water doesn't seem to get them that wet, what with the oily coating on each feather they so carefully preen and distribute to the very tips. It's like a natural wet suit for these water loving creatures.

With the colder weather this fall our full compliment of geese and ducks has returned. Canada geese are here all year and their numbers are multiplying, but others migrate in and out. We live sort of sandwiched in between two golf courses and a preserve and are about five miles from the northeastern edge of the Great Dismal Swamp. Along the main east-west (sort of) road, the golf course has a long and narrow pond. When we have the remnants of tropical storms or nor'easters with ten or twelve inches of rain, this pond overflows and has even flooded the road. Water expands to fill the adjacent sand traps as well. With this fall's cold temperatures after Thanksgiving ice formed around the edges and in the shaded spots.

Here the seagulls, ducks and geese gather, somedays it looks like a huge church congregation. The Canada geese first meet and have breakfast on the golf course.. bits of grass ... or they are across the road at the community college at another restaurant. Usually there is a group of twenty or so smaller ducks, huddled on the sand in long rows two or three deep... they are the choir in practice. A few mallards float on the calm waters... they just keep together in family groups or the never ending pursuit of two males after one female. One or two crane watch the proceedings from a rock at the edge... keeping to themselves. And the seagulls make their dissonant noise... often drowning out the choir. Eventually, the Canada geese gather into one force, waddling across the four lane road and stopping traffic in the process. The group floats quietly on the pond... and the service begins.

As with their human counterparts... the attendance at these services seems greater in the winter... I guess they are all at the beach in the summer. I haven't been back to Mt. Trashmore since we moved to Chesapeake... I wonder how their attendance is going?

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Carmi's Theme ~ Wet
See It Sunday ~ Birds

Lighting Our Path

Lighting the path to the future....

"We cannot hold a torch to light another's path without brightening our own." ~ Ben Sweetland

I remember being in New Year's Eve services where the congregation took small white candles held in crude paper holders to catch the hot wax drippings and formed a large chain around the sanctuary. Near midnight the organ would start to play an old hymn and we would begin to sing while the leaders in front began to light their candles. Each person received the flame and passed it on around until all were basking in the golden light. Voices raised together to ring in the New Year.

I've seen candlelight gatherings in remembrance of loved ones lost, vastly different from the joy of a new year and yet it seems even more appropriate. Sadness can become oppressive and all light seems gone from life..but the lit candle, even if only one or two, brings light back. The light dispels the darkness just enough to let us see and process our memories and remember with joy those that have left us.

This particular gathering is a tradition at William and Mary. The night before graduation the Seniors gather for humorous speeches, serious speeches, songs and a general good time... with snacks of course. They gather in front of the Wren building in cap and gown.... at the very end, the candles carried by each graduate are lit... from one to another.. they are lifted high and in one voice they sing the Alma Mater. These lights are hopeful, lights to show the way to the future as well as to remember their time spent here. I've wondered which tradition my daughter loved best at William and Mary... perhaps she'll tell me sometime. I thought this was lovely and was thrilled to have been there.

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Thursday Challenge

Rosemary For Remembrance

Rosemary and holly...Colonial Williamsburg Christmas spray.

"Winter, a lingering season, is a time to gather golden moments, embark upon a sentimental journey, and enjoy every idle hour. " ~ John Boswell

I was strolling through my Christmas pictures from Colonial Williamsburg and down the lane lined with memories associated with each one. This particular arrangement had been passed by and passed over many times without a pause to study or reflect on its beauty. Perhaps it was that this was the first summer past that I had really gardened at our new house or perhaps I simply had not noticed the rosemary before, thinking the greenery, often overlooked, was simply some other form of evergreen... at any rate, the rosemary suddenly lunged out of the screen and grabbed me.

The Colonial Williamsburg wreaths are all made of natural materials that grow in the area... except for the pineapples, I think they ship them in and did so even in Colonial times. I'm used to seeing wreaths of pine and fir and even magnolia leaves but it never occurred to me that rosemary would make such a lovely arrangement. I planted a bush rosemary and an upright rosemary in the flowerbeds and in a patio pot this summer and have discovered that they thrive in the cooler temperatures of fall and even winter. When most of the other plants have lost their color, the rosemary, sage, parsley and even the fennel (minus the black swallowtail caterpillars) has weathered the cold and the snow.

More sturdy than the fine feathery yarrow leaves and yet more delicate than the stiff and sticky fir, the rosemary finds that balance to support the strawflowers, red holly berries, lotus pods, golden yarrow and that one dried artichoke in the center. I think it is a lovely spray and what a heavenly fragrance as well. Rosemary is considered the herb of remembrance; how could I have passed it over so many times?

"As for rosemary, I let it run all over my garden walls, not only because my bees love it but because it is the herb sacred to remembrance and to friendship, whence a sprig of it hath a dumb language." ~ Sir Thomas More

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