Snow!

Ok, we've been having a "snow drought" for the last two years. Last year I shoveled twice. This year, I've shoveled three times. Last night, we got a dusting. But, it made me realize it's been ten years(!) since I posted my favorite meditation on snow:

When rain turns to ice and snow I declare a holiday. I could as easily resist as stay at a desk with a parade going by in the street below. I cannot hide the delight that then possesses my heart. Only God could have surprised rain with such a change of dress as ice and cold...

Most people love rain, water. Snow charms all young hearts. Only when you get older and bones begin to feel dampnesss, when snow becomes a traffic problem and a burden in the driveway, when wet means dirt—then the poetry takes flight and God's love play is not noted.

But I am still a child and have no desire to take on the ways of death. I shall continue to heed water's invitation, the call of the rain. We are in love and lovers are a little mad. (Space for God, 64)

The snippet above is from the first edition. I just realized today that there is a second edition. I have no idea what they changed, as the page count is only different by three pages, which could just be a new preface…

Celebrate snow

Bobby from Hendrickson Publishers just sent me a link to a marvelous poem about snow by Emerson:

Announced by all the trumpets of the sky,
Arrives the snow, and, driving o'er the fields,
Seems nowhere to alight: the whited air
Hides hills and woods, the river, and the heaven,
And veils the farm-house at the garden's end.
The sled and traveller stopped, the courier's feet
Delayed, all friends shut out, the housemates sit
Around the radiant fireplace, enclosed
In a tumultuous privacy of storm.

Come see the north wind's masonry.
Out of an unseen quarry evermore
Furnished with tile, the fierce artificer
Curves his white bastions with projected roof
Round every windward stake, or tree, or door.
Speeding, the myriad-handed, his wild work
So fanciful, so savage, nought cares he
For number or proportion. Mockingly,
On coop or kennel he hangs Parian wreaths;
A swan-like form invests the hidden thorn;
Fills up the farmer's lane from wall to wall,
Maugre the farmer's sighs; and, at the gate,
A tapering turret overtops the work.
And when his hours are numbered, and the world
Is all his own, retiring, as he were not,
Leaves, when the sun appears, astonished Art
To mimic in slow structures, stone by stone,
Built in an age, the mad wind's night-work,
The frolic architecture of the snow.

Wonderful! Reminds me of my favorite meditation on snow, which I haven't posted now for about 3 years. I'm remedying that oversight right now : )

When rain turns to ice and snow I declare a holiday. I could as easily resist as stay at a desk with a parade going by in the street below. I cannot hide the delight that then possesses my heart. Only God could have surprised rain with such a change of dress as ice and cold...

Most people love rain, water. Snow charms all young hearts. Only when you get older and bones begin to feel dampnesss, when snow becomes a traffic problem and a burden in the driveway, when wet means dirt—then the poetry takes flight and God's love play is not noted.

But I am still a child and have no desire to take on the ways of death. I shall continue to heed water's invitation, the call of the rain. We are in love and lovers are a little mad. (Space for God)

Snow!

Indeed! With a vengeance, too. It's been snowing off and on now since Sunday afternoon. Wonderful stuff! Debbie and I have been out walking in it each day; we're loving it. Right now it is very windy and huge flakes. Here's the weather service warning (somebody should tell them that keyboards have lower case now!):

... WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT CST WEDNESDAY NIGHT...

* LOCATION... NORTH SHORE AREA OF LAKE SUPERIOR FROM DULUTH TO THE CANADIAN BORDER.

* TIMING... THIS IS A LONG DURATION SNOW STORM. IT WILL SNOW ON AND OFF THROUGH WEDNESDAY. SNOW IS EXPECTED TO DIMINISH SOMEWHAT TODAY... BUT INCREASE AGAIN TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY.

* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS... TOTAL SNOWFALL THROUGH THE EVENT COULD RANGE FROM 15 TO 20 INCHES... WITH SOME LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS POSSIBLE. THIS INCLUDES THE DULUTH AREA UP TO GRAND PORTAGE.

* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS... ADDITIONAL SNOWFALL TODAY WILL RANGE FROM 2 TO 4 INCHES... WITH MORE SNOWFALL EXPECTED TONIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY. SPOTTERS HAVE REPORTED 5 TO 8 INCHES OF SNOW SO FAR ACROSS MUCH OF THE NORTH SHORE DOWN INTO THE DULUTH AND CLOQUET AND MOOSE LAKE AREAS.

* WINDS/VISIBILITY... WINDS WILL BECOME STRONG FROM THE EAST ON TUESDAY WITH GUSTS OF 30 MPH.

<idle musing>
I'd say we've gotten about 8 inches here so far. Hard to know for sure with the wind so strong today. The neatest thing is that everybody we talk to here is loving it!
</idle musing>

But it sure is pretty

The view out our front door this morning:



This is what the north side of the house looked like (the wind was from the north):

And the walls come a tumblin' down...

This is what happens when you have a heavy, wet, 6 inch snowfall and don't have your supports reinforced on your hoop house. As seen from the south:



As seen from the west side:



I will rebuild! The worst of it is that there is a 3 foot gash in the plastic where the broken PVC ripped it. But, if it gets warm enough, I can use vinyl tape to hold it together. Surprisingly, all the plants seem to be in fine shape...

It's snowing here

and that means it's time for my annual posting of this wonderful snippet from Space for God:

"When rain turns to ice and snow I declare a holiday. I could as easily resist as stay at a desk with a parade going by in the street below. I cannot hide the delight that then possesses my heart. Only God could have surprised rain with such a change of dress as ice and cold...

"Most people love rain, water. Snow charms all young hearts. Only when you get older and bones begin to feel dampnesss, when snow becomes a traffic problem and a burden in the driveway, when wet means dirt--then the poetry takes flight and God's love play is not noted.

But I am still a child and have no desire to take on the ways of death. I shall continue to heed water's invitation, the call of the rain. We are in love and lovers are a little mad."

<idle musing>
What more need I say?!
</idle musing>

Where's the snow?

Well, I haven't received any official reports on how much/little snow we received, but it fell well short of the 18 inches they were predicting. The wind was very strong last night, though. And, we had freezing rain/ice pellets for a while. The power didn't go out, but it did flicker a bit.

So, this morning I was faced with a dilemma. Should I try and ride my bike in, hoping that the bike path was plowed? Or, should I take the safe way and ski in? I opted to ski in. Here' a picture of my parking area at work:



I haven't had a chance to check on the hoop house yet, but it looks like it held together. That's good news, as I got a new set of metal reinforcers for the plastic clamps I have been using. Nothing else I had tried worked. This morning it looked like it might have come apart a bit at the top by the door. I didn't reinforce that because I thought it was too small an area to come apart—of course :( We'll see.

It's snowing!

OK. That has nothing to do with today's post, but I just thought I'd let everybody know that we are getting a nice bit of snow here. Yesterday was about 6 inches; I'm not sure what today has brought yet. It did make for interesting riding going home last night. If the wind had picked up, we could have had a very nice blizzard.

Now for today's thought:
“...we have in the NT numerous expressions of what seems to be a rather profoundly new view of 'God' in which Jesus is crucial and integral. Yet it also remains the case that typically NT authors can distinguish 'God' and Jesus. Jesus never displaces 'God' in the NT , and the two are never pictured as in tension or competition with each other. Moreover although Jesus is ascribed or is integrally involved in a number of 'God's' attributes and actions, from creation through eschatological redemption and judgment, this never means that 'God' fades or is diminished. In the NT, Jesus does not overwrite 'God,' and each is defined in relation to the other.”—God in New Testament Theology, page 44

<idle musing>
Which has some serious trinitarian ramifications...
</idle musing>

Weather

It has been beautiful here the last week or so: lots of snow, temperatures in the mid-upper teens (F). You couldn't ask for better weather to ski and snowshoe in. It's been a bit hard on the bike, but I'll gladly take it...

It's snowing

Well, not anymore. But, it was while I rode my bicycle to work today. Almost time to get out the mountain bike, but I haven't repacked the bottom bracket (crank). I guess I had better do that :)

Anyway, the snow made me want to celebrate, so I am posting my favorite description of snow. I post it ever couple of years, but I think it is worth reading again. I used to have outside my office; I might just do that again...

When rain turns to ice and snow I declare a holiday. I could as easily resist as stay at a desk with a parade going by in the street below. I cannot hide the delight that then possesses my heart. Only God could have surprised rain with such a change of dress as ice and cold...

Most people love rain, water. Snow charms all young hearts. Only when you get older and bones begin to feel dampnesss, when snow becomes a traffic problem and a burden in the driveway, when wet means dirt--then the poetry takes flight and God's love play is not noted.

But I am still a child and have no desire to take on the ways of death. I shall continue to heed water's invitation, the call of the rain. We are in love and lovers are a little mad.

From Space for God. Looks like there are some cheap used copies for sale...Meanwhile, enjoy the beautiful snow!

Fall is fading, winter is approaching

It snowed yesterday and last night, not much, but some. Debbie and I went for a walk in the snow late last night; it was crisp and beautiful on the fields and trees. We saw deer tracks crossing the road at several spots. As we were walking, the clouds broke and the stars and moon came out, lighting the woods around us and turning them into a winter wonderland. It is easy to worship God when it is so beautiful.

This morning, the temperature was at 19 F, with a crisp north wind. It was a bit cool riding the bike, but my main concern was the ice that had formed when the slushy snow froze as the temperature dropped during the night. But, by noon the sun had melted most of the snow :(

I wish I had taken the camera home last night to get a picture out my study window. It really is a lovely sight down the road there.

What's going on?

Time for a quick round-up of some stuff I've run across this week...

Despite what some may think about cats, they are intelligent and relatively well behaved. In fact, according to this post academics could learn a bit from them:

Academic squabbles are often compared to cat fights, but as one who has owned cats for several decades, I’ve come to believe that such analogies are unfair to felines. Cats, for instance, instinctively know to terminate a chase when they would consume more calories than their prey would provide. And even the pugilist tabbies I’ve owned eventually learned to give wide berth to rivals who consistently bloodied them. All of this suggests that cats may be more evolutionarily advanced than a lot of academics.

He goes on to list 8 on-going arguments in academia. This article generated a good bit of traffic on the L-Classics list.

Don't think that military training carries over into civilian life? Check out this sad commentary in the New York Times

Another good review of Pagan Christianity just appeared at The M Blog. Maybe I should take Nick Norelli's advice and ask for a review copy for myself...

I just got the most recent Moody Press catalog. I don't usually see anything of interest, but this time there was a biography of A.W. Tozer advertised. It looks interesting, but if you notice, the link I gave doesn't take you to Moody's site; they haven't listed it yet! Isn't that basic marketing? Anyway, I think I will have to get it for myself. It's not the kind of thing that will sell at Eisenbrauns :)

Oh, I almost forgot this one...Apparently there is a synchroblog on fools right now. Anyway, Alan Knox has a good one here. I quote in part:

Once upon a time, God used a donkey. How foolish! Not today. Today, God has other means of transportation available to him. He uses nice cars - Cadillacs, BMWs, Mercedes, even limos. God even uses jet planes. Why would God want to use something as foolish as a donkey when he has planes available to him?

Once upon a time, God used pagan prophets and philosophers. How foolish! Not today. Nothing good can come from culture. Today, God wants his people to read Christian books, watch Christian movies, and listen to Christian music. If God has something to say, he would never be so foolish as to speak through a pagan.

He continues on. Very good food for thought.

And finally, I'm surely not the " only person over 15 who enjoys snow"!

Snow pictures

I took these this morning in the chilly zero degree weather.

This is the view out my study window,; you can see the sunrise in the background


This is the backyard


This is the south side, looking toward the creek, with the glow of sunrise in the background

Winter Wonderland

Wonderful! It started on Monday evening around 8:00 as a heavy wet snow that stuck to all the branches of the trees. Then, the temperature started dropping and the snow got lighter, but kept coming, piling higher on the branches. It kept coming all night and yesterday. It is still flurrying now, but no real accumulation has happened since last night.

I wish I had taken my camera home, it is a winter wonderland. Looking out our front window into the woods across the street is like looking at a picture, with the blacks of the trees, the greens of the pines, and the white snow all blending in a beautiful harmony of sight.

Jim Eisenbraun took some pictures out his window. He had 20 cardinals at their feeder at one time. We didn't have cardinals, but the goldfinch were everywhere. Here is one of Jim's pictures, if I remember to take the camera home, I will post some from our place tomorrow.

Snow!

Yes! It finally snowed. OK, it is only December 5, so I guess that isn't so late :)

It started snowing last night around 7:30 with a few flakes, but by 9:00 it was really snowing. We went out for a walk around 11:00—how can you stay in when it is so beautiful? We walked for about an hour and didn't see a single car. It was beautiful with the snow falling in big crystals. Debbie's hair looked like she was wearing a crown with all the snow on it. There must have been a good 4 inches on the ground by the time we got back.

We saw deer tracks across the road in several places. Because it had rained recently, the creek was making all kinds of noise. The pine trees were dipping their branches from the weight of the snow on the boughs. In the distance, you could hear the train as it blew its horn at the crossings; otherwise it was silent.

This morning, all our tracks were covered and it was still flurrying a bit. It was hard to come in to work—not because of the roads, which were just slippery, but because I would rather be out snowshoeing or skiing in it :)

When I got to work, there was significantly less snow, probably only about 3 inches. I would say we had about 6 inches at home. Strange how 5 miles can make that big a difference.

I need to remember to take the camera home tonight and get some pictures of the creek and the yard. With all the snow, it looks like a winter wonderland. I hope it doesn't melt anytime soon!