snowbound!

haven't blablablogged for a bit. we've been hit hard with snow storms! in the month of february, we had two holidays & i was at professional development once... then there were FIVE SNOW DAYS and two or three late starts due to icy roads! that's a lot of lost academic time for the kids. we've all lost our momentum, i think: i'm looking forward to getting back to work in march, uninterrupted by mother nature's beautiful, tempestuous vagaries...
snow patches still sit in small & large banks on our property & the mountains that surround still are speckled white (the lingering snowiness has made me think lately of when i used to go to colorado, of boulder, of denver, of my dear departed brother-in-law paul briggs). i saw streams of snow bunnies coming in today, a steady traffic stream from the cities to see snow. many locals complain about them, but as corey said, "why do they think WE all moved here???" we agree that much of the complaining likely is racist: most of the visiting families are hispanic.
the biggest problem is trash, but if local agencies had a better system in place to deal with these bunnies, who come each & every single mother loving year like clockwork, locals could have no complaints of broken sleds & food garbage left behind.
we haven't been able to do much this past month. my fingers have been too cold to play piano much or type. we ran out of firewood, & in the brief spells between storms, foraged some from here & there. the fireplace, loaded with blazing timber, was wondrous every time, bringing life & comfort. we had a particularly nice time one day sitting like two old folks by the welcoming blaze, reading our books to  the gentle snaps, crackles, & pops from the hearth. we made soup, we watched movies, i read books & jogged & took penny for many icy, snowy hikes (& today, six miles with christy z, finally to the snow-covered summit of "edison"!)...
as for much else, james said it: "you can't do SH*T when it's cold like that!!"
the other day we drove out to lancaster to get some warmth & enjoy that funky little desert town. we love the drive, too, out along the wide-open valley through podunk towns like neenach & fairmont (there's no town, just a sign), singing along with bob wills & loving life. we walked the boulevard, happened onto a TERRIFIC art exhibit (catherine coan's exhibit in particular was brilliant, mad, funny... just smashing!), got a coffee jolt while grinning at an impossibly cute little man-baby in red & black hunting vest, went to our favorite grocery store, winco, & bought prizes for my students, lugged what firewood we could find from a felled tree at the end of the old road at 138, found dad some ultra-thick socks in a chinese restaurant-trinket shop.
tomorrow will be 51 degrees. life is back on! we got a real winter this past year, but spring's approaching & we can't wait!!!
link to lancaster art museum: exhibit we saw was called "peace on earth," as good or better than any exhibit i've seen anyplace in the world!
taxidermist, artist, writer, gorgeous madwoman catherine coan
ps, her installation was a small drawing room filled with her pieces, & the series that really caught my eye caused me to exclaim, "look! the birds have died doing stupid things humans do!!" this part of the exhibit was called "canary suicides."
!!
effortlessly cool, urbane, strange, & brilliant,"word jazz"king ken nordine left this earth last week, his visit to this planet having lasted 98 years young. rest in peace, oh hipster voice of god, oh great & powerful one!!!
flibberty jib, flibberty jab!