Stillmeadow Friends

Dear Susan...

Snow has fallen in the Hudson Valley and once more our landscape is pure white. Monday night we sat inside watching the flakes fall with a steady rythm. There is magic in a snowfall like that. You know full well that in the morning the commute will be horrible and the road slippery, yet while it is coming down it has the ability to lull you to another time...quieter and a little more peaceful. It can captivate you if you let it. One of my favorite teachers in high school used to tell me that he loved the times when nature showed her strength. He said that he liked to know that there were powers that he had no power over. I've often thought about that when the snow falls. We truly have no power over how much falls and when.

The drive up the Taconic Parkway to work on Tuesday was a pretty one. The trees were ladened with heavy snow and the branches were bent with the weight of it. The Canada geese seemed to be out flying everywhere. Perhaps they were enjoying the sight of the new snow too. I suppose that it's hard to say, but it only makes sense to me that the G-d who made them would give them the ability to appreciate beauty around them.

I truly enjoyed Emma's letter Susan, and I've read and reread it quietly smiling to myself each time. What miracles our pets are. Don't you agree?? They ask so little of us, and yet the love that they give back is a thousandfold. I actually read Emma's letter to Scooter and he sat on my lap and listened intently, purring all the way through. He seemed quite pleased that his "cousin" is living such a happy life in New Hampshire. When I'd finished reading, he stepped up onto the desk and I showed him Emma's photos. He looked at me as if to say, "Well thank you...but I already knew what she looked like." Cats.

Speaking of Scooter, I took him to the vet last week. He didn't quite seem himself and he'd become almost sluggish within a couple of days. The vet was very impressed with his size. He now weighs in at 20.1 lbs!! He decided that Scooter should take a week's worth of antibiotics to get rid of whatever bug was bothering him. I'm delighted to tell you that within about three days he was back to his bouncy perky self.

Tomorrow I get to do the thing that I love the most. I'll be home and tending to the things that need tending!! I keep reminding myself that I need to pace my steps and set a few atainable goals for the day. Where along this life's journey did it happen?? When was that moment between "I can do it all in one day" and "I don't seem to be able to do it all in one day anymore". Was there a moment?? If there was, why wasn't there some sort of fanfare?? It would seem to me that if we're going to have these milestones in our lives that we should be able to at least do it with a bit of flair.

I was finally able to get a copy of "My Own Cook Book" by our own dear Gladys Taber. Oh Susan, I was on the verge of giddy when it came in the post. It's a lovely copy with a nice tight binding. I find it great fun to sit down in the afternoon with a cup of tea and pour over a couple of pages worth of recipes. Like the tea, I take pleasure in savoring it. I quite enjoy Gladys' comments that accompany the recipes. They're like little vignettes of her life...tiny insights if you will...and altogether precious.

It's almost 11 pm and it's been a long day. I tried to get all of my errands done this afternoon after work so that I have no "running" to do tomorrow. I think I'll have a cup of tea right now before I head off to bed.

Sleep well my dear friend.

Love, Shelley
Ossining, New York