Winter Light Show

Overlooked winter fact: Cold weather sunsets are stunning! (especially from the inside of a toasty car)

One of the items on my long To Do Before Dying list is "watch the sunset every single night for a whole year." I still haven't done it although sometime here it's going to show up on my resolution list. That said, lately, I'm running a little accidental warm-up routine thanks to one-car-family-life.

I think of sunsets as being summer happenings. That's kind of silly in some ways, we do have a sun even when there is snow on the ground after all! On the other hand, I think I've never really consciously watched for the sunset in winter. Here's why:  since  the old adage "red sky at night, sailor's delight" means that a vivid crimson streaked sunset means a hot, sunny day to follow I assumed conversely, in winter (since we don't get hot, sunny weather) every evening would be met with a tepid, pale end as the sun sank lustrously below the horizon. This, my dear readers, is how old wives tales are formed. Heh.

I couldn't have been more off. Because I'm at least twice a week (three times this week!) driving A to and from work, at this particular time of year we are rolling our way down the highway to fetch him at exactly the same time the sun is setting up for a glorious show. I was right on one small detail, there's little to no red in the evening sky at the moment...that said, who needs the red when you have January's luminous gold with blue and purple puffs of cloud as garnish! I am truly struck and have taken to bringing the camera with me to capture the glow. I can see a sunset painting in my future. I keep taking these photos...more and more views of this glowing winter sky that I would have missed altogether if we were living luxuriously with two cars. Small gifts, people, small gifts.

If you find yourself outdoors lately, around sunset...don't assume it's bland just because the weather is chill...go take a gander at the winter gold and think of me out there, snapping away happily on my way down 95.

I Do Love A Fair....

We took a coupla years off, but we finally made it back to a country fair. I consider the fair (and by the fair, I do mean...whatever fair I can get myself to in short order!) to be a quintessential part of summer. It doesn't feel like we can let the golden days go and feel that we've really had September without a night on the midway, a twirl on the ferris wheel and a good long stroll through the exhibit barns.

I love the fair because it seems like such a tall order seasonal tribute, everybody's best produce arrayed in proud rows, pies brimming with fruit, and all the livestock fed to the gills and curried within an inch of their lives. The best of the summer, yea the year...all arranged in rows and barns and heaps for our vicarious, positive group think enjoyment. Makes me very happy.

Then there's the bit about how it is a celebration of many of the ideals I hold dearest: do-it-yourself chutzpa, artistry, salt-of-the-earth goodness, homespun pride, old fashioned plummy fabulousness. It makes me want to go home and can loads of things, really buckle down and learn quilting, reel my clothesline in and out a few times just for the shear pleasure and sit sighing down amongst a stack of dreamy someday hopes that have to do with embroidery, handmade baby clothes and finally knitting a sweater myself.

The boys couldn't remember going to fair (its been two years) and so they were asking on the way over and over, what exactly was it we were going to see? Was it like a circus? Is it a store? Will it be like the zoo? They were racking their brains for anything comparable and trying to be that this wasn't some ugly mommy trick to haul them into a place where you sit still for long periods of time.

I am happy to report however, that we all enjoyed ourselves, even little Nib who made fabulous milage out of his sunny grin with pretty much every passing farm wife. My personal favorite part of the fair this year was my own solo trip up the ferris wheel as the sun was beginning to set over the rolling Connecticut fields. There could be very few deeper pleasures in the mommy life. Such a lovely run, round and round the big wheel, swooshing along smoothly, peaking over the green fields and clicking my camera at the dizzy blur of lights and color over the rolling landscape and waving down at shining little boy faces.