snowed in yesterday. really. snowy night and day yesterday/lastnight in these western north carolina mountains, where we habit-ate. wonders abound in the trees and on the snowlit branches, two distinct cardinal stopped by to eat the seed reeves throws in my yard, faithfully---snow, rain, shine, sleet.

amazing what the sky can do. or is it the god can do? or is it the being that lives of the world can dO? oh what wonder i won for free today. all for free, this panorama of nature's process, of nature naturally. how does it happen, this snow? and how does it make us so carefree and loving? how is it that we exude her glee when she flakes down on us?

as we walk the streets, which are hardly car-friendly yet, the ice melts and we seem to melt with it. people smile, knowing we are connected by this sudden new reality. there's a hand-holding sense that life is easy while we melt and defrost from this very snowy day.

the snow's effect is ::life can't go on as usual::she's a slow down sign, the yellow light of life. the snow puts us out while asking us to look in. consumerism and distraction is not so readily available; perhaps we will one day realize that love is our most sustainable resource.

it seems obvious, this aphorism, especially when electricity abandons us to quiet, a silence that lives underneath the usual hubbub of movement, getting things done, meeting people, lunching, grocery shopping, working at a job, tasking ourselves to death, aka::life as it goes culturally.

lights and clocks and computers and heat and tv and internet went out. powerless. PERHAPS. Aha, not me. Initial frustration and peevedness seeped into acceptance and settle and internal ground and letting myself will myself to being. and it wasn't will.

it was allowing the sensations of my body feel what is. the quiet supported being present to the snow sitting on the fences and the car, the ground, the porches, springs greens and autumns browns. Snow, water, falls to any level, all levels. Ah, and you know how much I love being surrounded by H2O!!

at 9:20pm lights were out and by 10:20 after attempting to read by flashlight and candle, i succumbed to the way it is. just is. is. is being is. and sleep came. so easily and quietly and softly.

Upon waking, I got a message from the local power co. that power would be restored by 9:45 am. My mind thought, OH good, only 2.5 hours until life can go back to the way it should be. Ha! Then I settled again and quiet remained, always remains, and I lied in bed for an hour, until Scout was the star of the morning.

Feeling and four-pawing the snow, he was a little puppy again........prancing, chasing my thrown snowballs, catching snow in his mouth, choking and then going for it all again. What a wonder dog. We walked in the snow for an hour or more. And it was my first time walking in snow to my knees. Scout wanted to run so badly and since snow covered every road, every yard, every silent everything, I let him go. And he ran and ran, until I panicked not being able to keep up with him. Scout I call, Scout, and as he is my dog, and we've established our love, he returned to me after finding what smells he needed to smell this morning.

It's been such a day.....Such a grandeloquent, quiet, kind of day. I went in and found inner power to make this a day of peace and prosperity and profound stillness. I love being alive, I'm willing to die, I'm scared to die, and I don't wanna die, but die I will, so I'll include that too.

.....at 12:20pm yesterday the other power company turned their power back on and I made granola and wrote thoughts down and cleaned my house of the snow debris after three grand walks with my dog, and he with me. I'm pleased. I'm wondering now How in the World are you?


PS: no wonder i love granola....it's a collagelike mix of oatmeal, nut, and dried fruit with some moistness keeping it all together. here's my granola pie