~ the backdrop on the stage at the tiny hall in my home town ~

10:26 a.m.

It's the middle of my work-morning, so I must get back to it. All is well here, though I haven't had much inclination to write, lately. I know that even when I sit down with nothing to say, once I start, words come. But ... I guess I'm taking a bit of a break.

Last week I brought my aunt Reta back from the city after she'd flown in from Phoenix. It was a two-hour drive home and we talked non-stop all the way. It's good to have her here, not only because she's staying with Grandma so we know G is safe and well, but because she is the closest thing to Mom herself, I suppose.

I do not have intense crying jags much these days, but that night I got out of bed to have one without waking up my oblivious snoring boy.

The dog hears mice running in their tunnels beneath the snow, then digs after them excitedly.

~ the outdoor furnace ~

I am flipping through my handwritten diary from one year ago. I find:

From What Casanova Told Me:

“If to err is human, and to forgive divine, then one must choose one’s husband foolishly so that one can forgive endlessly and approach a state of grace befitting a saint.
But I believe this is not wise. Far better to choose carefully in order to forgive less often. This is also the best way to avoid the self-congratulation that accompanies frequent acts of generosity.”

I had been documenting some spousal spatting. Then I had this dream:

“He got called up by the army and was leaving for heaven knows how long, and was very upset. Woke up with the realization that all this stuff is small potatoes compared to shit that can happen in life.”

Looking back, I see that the dream was also telling me what was at the root of our dissatisfaction. He needed to leave and did not want to go.

From a magazine I had pasted in a clipping that included this: “... how easy it is to feel self-righteous while behaving badly.”

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That snowfall never did make it here yesterday. So much for weather prediction. Not that I was worried. Good weather, nasty weather, it’s all the same to me unless I have to drive far. Which I do, tomorrow. Off to the big city!

There are six horses on the farm, but to see one laying down is rare enough I thought I should take a picture. Have you heard that horses can sleep standing up? I believe it.

Today there is a weather watch for 10 cm snow in our area. So far there is none falling on the other side of my window.

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“Human Hands Emit Light
Human hands glow, and fingernails release the most light, according to a recent study that found all parts of the hand emit detectable levels of light. Not only our hands, but also our forehead and the bottoms of our feet emit photos.
See more here.”

Here's another one:

“Bruce Lipton, a renowned cell biologist, has worked over the last 40 years to study how cells process information ... and has come to the conclusion that genes do not control our behaviour. Instead, genes are turned on and off by influences outside the cell. These include our thoughts and beliefs, which Lipton argues can shape our DNA, a theory that he presents in his new book, The Biology of Belief." See this interview with the author.

And here's one more:

“UC Berkeley physics professor, Raphael Bousso, is trying to break down the mysteries of the universe with a concept called the holographic principle. Physicists stumbled on the idea while studying black holes. It is a concept that ultimately questions whether the third dimension exists.” See www.dailycal.org.

The Holographic Universe is a fascinating book. I’d like to get my hands on it again, as a matter of fact. I had to order it from the library, which means I had to give it back.

* Links and descriptions of these studies are courtesy of www.realityshifters.com.

Into the trees behind our house we went, and Scott used the chainsaw to topple several standing-dead poplars, which he then de-branched and lopped into six-foot lengths to be dragged into the yard and cut down to size for our woodstove.

As he does this last cutting, I sit watching, sweating, on the step with the dog. The small pile of wood you see will keep our little house heated for a week, maybe more.

Meanwhile, the menfolk from the neighbouring house, which is heated by an outdoor woodburning furnace that goes through wood incredibly fast, have driven north to the Greenwater Lake area, where they are purchasing a cord of wood that may last them a couple weeks.

Getting wood for their furnace is a huge job. Although the outdoor furnace heats a much larger house as well as the shop and the milkhouse (neither of which really needs to be heated I suppose, and at least one has another heating system that could be used when required), it goes through the wood something terrible. We could have had our house hooked up to it but then Scott would have been responsible for getting the wood, along with his brother. He had the foresight to realize how much extra work and time that would require, and opted out.

We're awfully glad he did, as after an hour's labour with no travel involved and negligible cost, we are set for some time and Scott can take a couple hours off in the afternoon to relax if he wishes. Not that he does, of course. Heck no. This is a farm; there's always something to do, and out he goes to the corrals to get ahead of the game before darkness falls.

Today they're out preparing animals to be shipped to auction this week.

Everett handed me this card before he went out the door this morning. Here's the inside:

Miz Katie has spent much of her day taking telephone calls and will now strike out into the bright blue and white for a pleasant little saunter. It's not quite 10 below but I'll wear my ski pants as insurance.

We're still having unseasonably warm weather for Saskatchewan. When I went into the bank today and the teller, being the third person to mention it as I did my errands in town, remarked on how nice it was and what that meant (that we're probably in for something nasty to make up for it) — I said yep, if it's cold we complain, if it's mild we worry.

Claire, remarking on photographs in yesterday's entry: The second snow one in this series, I laughed at. I have no idea what it is. I guess something covered by snow. Most of yours are rather poetic; this was funny.

It's one end of a stack of two long rows of round bales. And yes, covered by snow.

~ photo jan.16, day after "the big snew" ~

Now, of course, we're all dug out.

I've borrowed my niece's cross-country skis and didn't fall on my butt the first time I went out with them on. Came damn close though, many times, and although I laughed at my clumsiness, was glad no one was around to see it.

Am about to go try them again, loss of dignity be damned. Heh!

Didn't get out for a walk yesterday, went visiting around the old home town instead. Today is a stay-home day as tomorrow will require two trips to town for two separate piano lessons.