It's cold outside!

 As usual I have spent ages pondering.  Thinking about what to write here.  There are so many thoughts going through my head at any time I feel like I am running down a steep hill and I'm not sure if I can catch myself and keep from falling when I reach my destination.  Do I even know what my destination is?

We had a snow storm about a week ago.  I think we got about 7" of snow.  But that was followed by freezing rain.  So the surface of the snow got covered with hard, frozen snow.  Most of the area school were closed.  For the most part the streets have been plowed.  But the sides of the road and turning lanes are still stacked with the concrete-hard snow.  It's being called "sno-crete"

I am asked, and I ask myself, does this remind me of Norway?  Yes and no. Streets were regularly plowed there- and the snow plows had different types of blades on the front that were adjusted for what kind of snow needed to be cleaned up.    We did have a lot of snow there.  way more than I have ever seen here.  But it was the norm.  We had studded snow tires.  we dressed appropriately.   And no, I have not gotten tired of snow.

When we returned from our tour in Tromsø my mother in law asked me "have you had enough snow now?".  To which I answered "no". 

My clumsy creaky older body does not appreciate this difficult, hard and slippery snow.   It is scary to step on the crust not knowing it the crust will crumble.

And it's funny thinking about the contrasts of our lives.  I follow the Chiang Mai New in English on Facebook.   I look at the pictures of the beaches and the goings on in Perth, Western Australia.  And of course I love seeing the pictures of Tromsø.  

 The days are getting longer.  Sun is setting way after 5:00 pm now.   Soon it will be spring and summer and the days will get even longer.. Not the contrasts in daylight that Norway has.

In Thailand and Australia there are seasons, but the length of the daylight doesn't   vary much throughout the year.

Next week we are heading to the West Coast for Courtney and Zach's wedding.    SO much to think about and write about.   But it's after 1:00 am so I will stop here. 

Sadness in America

 The past couple of weeks have been so sad and unbelievable.  Two Americans were shot and killed by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) people.  Neither of them were doing anything that warranted being assassinated. 

The first, Renee Good is immortalized here 

  

                                                        

The second, only yesterday was shot and killed.

 

Pondering

 

 

 What do I want to do when I grow up?  Here's the thing, I am 71.  Not really old, but getting there.  I am a senior citizen.

And yet I fantasize.   I think of all he things I want to do and places I want to be.

I would love to spend about a week with each of the kids.   Except maybe Chance.  Because he lives pretty close as it is.

 I love my quiet, boring days.  I feel somewhat guilty that I don't have to do anything.  And I don't do very much.

My life is full of "shoulds".  I should eat better.  I should lose weight.  I should exercise more.  More?   Ha I don't really move much at all.

 I've made a few potholders lately.  A break from knitting I guess.

 

 

Calendars

 Every year for ages I have been making calendars.  I use the online services like Snapfish or Shutterfly.  I make enough for all five kids to have one, plus nieces and nephews, in-laws, my sister and us.

I guess it's a labor of love.  All of the photos (with a few exceptions)  are pictures I have taken.  Most of the pictures are of "things" suck as flowers, birds or locations/ landscapes.

 I love going into the kids' houses and seeing "my" calendar there.    Nick's mother especially enjoyed my photography and calendars.

I started collecting calendars way before I started to make them.  I am pretty sure I have them as far back as 1977.  I recorded the first time I felt Courtney kick when I was pregnant!  They are a sort of diary of day to day life.

We have made photo Christmas cards for most of our married life as well.

Here are the 2026 calendar pictures: 

 This is the cover picture of the 2026 calendar

 

And each month's photo: 

 

 

Where I am from

 

In the fifties, my father took my mother to the family farm in Kjørrefjord, Norway. and showed her where his father is buried.  He said “there, that’s the hole my father is in” and he  walked away.  Almost a lifetime later I stood at the foot of that same grave and felt so alive and connected.  Here lies a piece of me, or I a piece it, the earth, of him, my father’s father. That same day, I stood in the room my grandfather was born in.  I closed my eyes and in my imagination, I heard his first cries.  I cried.  I was born in that room that day.  And at that grave on that farm in that village.   I was whole and complete and I drank wine and ate cheese and strawberries under the midnight sun.  Home.

 

 

A variety of Christmas cards and Christmas photos

 

Christmas is coming

 

 

 

 

I have been shopping online.  I made and delivered the calendar that I make every year  Christmas cards with letters have been sent off.  It's Christmas everywhere.

 

But I have not really been feeling it.  We were not going to bother decorating because we were feeling too blah.  Not sure what to do with ourselves.    I am sure that at least four of our kids will not be here for Christmas this year.  Not so sure about Chance and Jamie.

 

What a contrast to last year when all five kids were here.  Plus partners.  Plus baby Galileo's first Christmas.

 

I wonder if or when all five Sherwood "kids" will be together again?

 

I have probably posted this picture of the Sherwood 5, it was taken last year (Christmas 2024) in West Virginia on Chance's front porch 

 

 

 

I love them all so much sometimes it makes me crazy!