One of my long-time and much-admired blogging friends
posted a photo of frosted leaves and other detritus, a photo she ventured
outside in her bare feet to get. Another described getting up in the dark and
cold to go and source frost on the leaves photos. Ah, the onset of winter. As I
sit here at my computer, I can glance out the window at trees and deck and
ground covered with a few inches of the white stuff – at present the sun is
shining on it and I should, I suppose, leap up, grab a device, and get the
photo to post here.
But. My coffee is hot and fragrant and I have lots and
lots of photos of sun-on-snow. Lots. The one different shot I could go for, our
small and stubborn oak still decked in all its leaves and laden with sticky
white blobs, would require me to put on boots and trek outside. Did I mention
the coffee? Also, it is warm and lovely here at my computer as the floor vent
wafts a stream of hot air over my feet. Switching from the wood furnace (time
to add a log) to propane has simplified life Chez G.
And that is a Good Thing. (The Department of Nance has
Capital Letter emphasis and I love it. Copying. Thanks, Nance.) My life is
complicated enough without lugging logs. If anyone ever tempts you to run
English language classes for incoming refugees, think carefully. It is a lot of
work. And frustrating. Many of the complications at present are coming from my
lack of skill at using Google Calendar to schedule. I found yet another double
lesson this morning and sent off yet another sad email to the teachers asking
for clarification. If I were having to stoke the furnace on top of this (note
untrue condition), it would probably be quite cold in here.
The sun has now vanished, and lovely fat flakes of
snow are falling, dancing lightly down. I love winter, given that the roads are
cleared. Although I am worrying a bit and hoping that my lessons on Canadian
vocabulary (felt liners, mittens, quilting, layering) have been absorbed. Two
of my students assured me that they had winter in Afghanistan, thank you, and I
did not need to teach them about it. Yeah. In Canada we have, I repeated,
Winter. Do you have boots yet?
Speaking of which, I must touch bases with the YG
whose boots, as far as I can tell, are in the storage closet in our basement.
Since she is in Brussels, this is not optimum. However, her sister posted,
yesterday, a photo of Ottawa’s first snow and the YG countered with a photo of
a lawn in Brussels covered in green grass. So maybe the boot thing is not a
problem. (Note to self: research what winter is like in Brussels, also in Afghanistan.)
Regarding boots, one of our stores is advertising boots with a new, non-skid
material in the soles. I am hopeful this will actually work and if so, I am
buying some.
It was quite cold in here for a bit. But more warm air
is now flowing into my office as I have just manually adjusted the thermostat.
It is sulkily mistaking night for day and offering night time temperatures in
the morning. An expert is supposed to come and fix this, as we cannot. Between
the thermostat computer and the Google calendar, I am longing for the 20th
century, sometimes. Although, sadly, it is probably a lack in my wetware, not
the software, that is at fault.
Quitting here. Must print picture sheets of mittens
and tuques.
Tuques -- only in Canada as I understand it, but I hate it when people call them beanies. There was once a blogger from the deep south who called it a toboggan. I kid you not. This was shortly after I started blogging, maybe 2003-04. When I laughed at him, he couldn't understand why.
ReplyDeleteWell heck. I found the post. It's the first part of a long blog in which I prattle on about our beloved language.
https://anvilcloud.blogspot.com/2004/12/from-dan-to-beersheba.html
I’ve never given thought to the words of winter. Definitely a consideration when one is teaching English to people new to the country!
ReplyDeleteI will have to remember to come visit you hear more often, Mary! (Thank you for visiting me during my recent attempts at regular blogging!) It sounds like quite the adventure to run the ESL classes. It's wonderful that you are doing it. I have done some ESL tutoring, myself, and I always get so attached to the students. But I haven't run or organized any classes or programs.
ReplyDeleteIt's lovely to read your voice. I enjoyed your word pictures of the snow.
I have one word that encompasses All Things Winter, and it is UGH. I truly do detest every single thing about it. Please keep all of your Wintriness (if that is not a word, I have now created it) in your own territory. Buffalo was close enough, thank you.
ReplyDelete