Winter Is Here
Winter is definitely upon us here in Western Washington. The weather is our standard winter weather: cold but not freezing, wet but mostly slow soaking rain, and cloud covered skies. We have been fortunate that we have had a few clear days although they are a bit colder.
As I sit in our dining nook looking out onto the ravine behind our house, I am taken by the strange beauty of the bare trees and the tall trunks of the giant firs that populate the ravine. I can see Silverdale across Dyes Inlet. During the summer the foliage hides this view. I also get a glimpse of the house across the ravine which is also hidden during the summer. Last week we had a clear day that started with fog filling the ravine giving the trees a surreal appearance and made me feel like I was trapped in an alien landscape where the only life I could see were the birds and the squirrel at our feeders which were the only other life forms within my world.
Our yard has been raked and lies barren with clumps of brown or green vegetation hugging the ground like they are trying to stay warm while waiting for spring to bring them back to full life.
I do have work to do to continue building the raised bed gardens that Cece wants to line the paths through the side yard. I have a stack of broken concrete that needs to be broken into smaller workable pieces that I can stack to form the borders that hold the soil in the raised gardens. I don’t know if it is mostly the holidays or the cool, wet weather that keeps me from wanting to work outside. I suspect that it is the weather that gives me an excuse to work indoors. I do know that I need to get started preparing for spring or I will be playing catchup throughout the growing season this next year. But, at least through tomorrow (new year’s day) I will claim it is the weather and will kick back and enjoy the comfort of the house.
