Snow at the End of a Strange Week

It snowed today. It was rather unexpected but also rather delightful.

Two days ago, we had a day where it was 71 degrees. We didn’t wear coats. Two days later, it’s snowing. This is actually quite typical for Ohio but it’s still rather fascinating.

This whole week has actually been a little bizarre. Workwise, it’s been very uneven. Some days have been so slow and have dragged on for what seemed like forever. Other days were so busy they flew by before I got everything done.

Aside from work, it’s been a strange week. I signed up to participate in National Novel Writing Month again. I’ve found it’s an excellent way for me to, you know, write. Lately, I haven’t been writing so regularly. I don’t know why. I still love it. It’s just that I haven’t really felt like it. I don’t know if it’s laziness or my brain has just not wanted to write anything since last year at this time when I wrote “Emmy Goes to Hell.”

I’m not writing another book in my demon series. I need a break. I know there are a few people out there wanting a sequel but I don’t think the demand is enough that I HAVE to write one for a while. I don’t really want to at the moment anyway. While those books are entertaining, I’d like to think I’m a better writer than that and I’m capable of something more interesting and better written.

The ironic thing is that I really don’t know what I’m writing in this current book. I have a few vague ideas but I’m returning to my old habit of just letting the story come out on its own. My past few books including the demon ones have felt forced to me. They haven’t felt like my writing. I like it much better when I find my characters and connect with them and they guide the story. I like being surprised and I’ve got into the habit of not being surprised.

Thus, since I’ve written every night this week, the story I’m writing has become quite interesting. I rather like having no clue where it’s going next. As I said, I have a vague idea but, to me, that’s the best way to write.

I think the weirdness of the week is partially due to the time change too. Ever since we “Fell Back” an hour last weekend, I’ve felt a little out-of-sorts. The pups have too. I’ve noticed they still seem to like to get up at the same time as last week which is all very well but the same time as last week is actually an hour earlier this week. Did you follow that. To put it more simply- Rory Wrigglebottom Gilmore now becomes a wide-awake Rory Wrigglebottom Gilmore at 5:45 a.m. instead of 6:45 a.m. For the past few moments, I’ve awoken to find a doggie nose inches from my face, big brown eyes wide and staring, just waiting for me to open my eyes. The minute I do, I get pounced on. I suppose it’s good that they don’t pounce while I’m sleeping but both dogs tend to be a little restless a lot earlier than they used to be.

The problem is that they’re going to bed earlier too. They haven’t figured out that humans feel the need to change the clock an hour backwards and thus their internal clock is still telling them it’s ‘bedtime’ at the same time it was last week. This means they’re passing out on the couch, legs sticking up on the air, flat on their backs at 8:30 p.m. instead of 9:30 p.m. This probably explains why they wake up earlier too but it’s a little hard to sleep at the moment.

Now, it’s snowing. I’m quite happy. It’s not the type of snow where I’m inspired to go home, make hot chocolate and enjoy it since it’s rather furious flurries that are over in moments and it’s still far too warm on the ground for it to do anything other than land as wet splodges. I do, however, have Hungarian goulash in the crockpot which I think might make the perfect meal on a cool, snowy evening.

I’m just hoping that I actually get to relax a little with my TV shows tonight. The last time I furiously wrote to get my word count for the day, I did so with the promise to myself that I could watch “Glee,” “Ringer” and “Parenthood” after as my ‘reward.’ Then I discovered that DirecTV was having trouble with their HD channels. The non-HD version of each channel was working, however. This would have been fine if I’d have, you know, watched the shows live rather than rely on my DVR but, alas, my DVR didn’t record anything and thus, I missed all three. Hopefully, tonight, I will get to watch “Vampire Diaries” (remember: NO MOCKING) and “Grey’s Anatomy” with no problems. I’m also watching “Person of Interest” because I love Michael Emerson who endeared himself to me as creepy Ben Linus on “Lost.” Unfortunately, “Person of Interest” is becoming one of those shows that I don’t feel like I really want to watch until I have nothing else left on my DVR to watch. It’s…ok but it’s a bit….boring.

Ah well, perhaps I’ll watch it over the weekend. I think it’s supposed to warm up this weekend again. Knowing Ohio, it’ll probably warm up to 90 degrees and we’ll be sweating in our thick coats and gloves that we got out to deal with this snow.

You just never can tell.

Happy Friday and have a great weekend!

Warm Days, Cold Noses....

Apparently, we're officially having an Indian summer. I learned yesterday from Frank Marzullo and the Fox 19 Stormtracker weather team that were having one. This is because we've had a 'hard freeze' and then the temperatures have risen. Given that we've had 70 degree days since Monday, this is definitely the case.

It still feels odd though that it's getting dark at 5 p.m. It feels odd that when I get home from work and the pups are in their crate, the shadows are already long in the kitchen and the puppies are still staring at me as if to say, "Dude! Why are you SO late?"

To make matters worse, I've been going out after work for the past two nights which means I come home, let them out, call them in so I can leave again and, by the time I get home, it's dark.

The puppies don't understand this. I don't understand it either, to be honest. It's to get home at 7 p.m and feel like it's far too late to have been out on a work night.

Still, it's all part of the process of moving between seasons. In a few weeks, it'll all feel normal. The Indian summer will be over and we'll be moving on into the chill of winter.

As you know, I love winter. I love the fact that it's a cleansing break between the finality of autumn and the newness of spring. I love snow. I love frost. I love having the perfect excuse to stay inside, snuggle up with a puppy and read or watch TV or write. It's all part of the semi-hibernation process.

And yet it's not winter yet as evidenced by the beautiful days we're having at the moment. It's wonderful to come home at lunch without a jacket and watch the puppies frollic in the garden they way they did most of the spring and summer. It's been too cold lately for them to do much outside but hunt the occasional squirrel, do their 'business' and come in. I think they're as delighted as I am that it's warm enough to go out.

Of course, it's still getting pretty nippy at night. We've still had a few frosts. Personally, this is the way I like my weather. I love the dramatic difference between daytime and nightime. Even when it's freezing outside, I keep my house cool at night so that I can snuggle in my bed and enjoy the cocoon factor. These days, I have two doggy-hot-water-bottles to keep me warm. Rory snuggles on the right, Sookie on the left. They burrow under the covers, heads towards my pillow and lay vertically pressed up against me. It's very comfortable and it's lovely to feel that loved and needed.

Naturally, I know it's really because they're cold and I'm a convenient puppy-warmer but it's still nice to have the snuggle factor on chilly nights. It makes the slightly eerie creaks and groans of my little house a little less sinister when you have two puppies you know will alert you if there's really something to be worried about.

I love having my pups to keep me company on chilly nights. Of course the fact that they like to press their cold noses up against me tends to make me jump a little at first but I'm getting used to it. I don't like it when they need to get up in the wee hours of the morning to go outside because it means I have to leave the cocoon of my bed to open the back door.

However, when we come back to bed, chilled from the frosty air, I do enjoy the race we have to see who can get under the covers first. I usually win.

They follow quickly, cold noses and all.

I love autumn!

Happy Thursday!

The Impossibility of Explaining Daylight Saving Time to a Couple of Puppies...

It was feeling a lot less like Christmas today.

Even though we woke up to a lightly frosted world, the day warmed up so much that a jacket wasn't necessary. I'd say this was odd given that it was pouring down with snow on Friday night but this is the Midwest where you can have an 80 degree day in December and a 30 degree day in May.

It was nice that it was so warm outside. It made walking the puppies more pleasant. Lately, it's been so chilly, I've started to think gloves might be necessary. The puppies don't seem to mind. I haven't put their winter coats on them yet but when the temperature drops again, it'll be time.

They won't like it but there's a lot of things they don't like. There are things they don't understand...like daylight saving's time.

It's very hard to try to explain to little furry creatures- albeit cute little furry creatures- about daylight savings time. When their basic understanding of the human vocabulary can be boiled down into several meaningful words ("Rory", "Sookie," "Biscuit?", "Outside?" and "Walk"), explaining the concept of why it's dark at 6:15 p.m. and why it's now light when we get up is sort of impossible.

They don't care. They are waking up an hour earlier than the clocks read. Yes, we as humans try to adapt to the fact that 6 a.m. was 7 a.m. when, a few days ago, 7 a.m. was 7 a.m.

When I got home this evening at 5:30 p.m., it was already getting dark. In their crates, they stared at me accusingly as if to say, "MOTHER! It's late! Where HAVE you BEEN?"

They don't understand that it's not late. It is, in fact, the usual time that I get home from work.

When we walked this evening, it was by twilight. There were no sparkly vampires, thankfully, only a weirdly hovering Larry who was standing by his car as if waiting for something but I couldn't figure out what. For some reason, in the half-light of day/night, he couldn't seem to figure out who I was even though it wasn't that dark and there's no one else in the neighbourhood that I know of who has two twin black and tan dachshunds and takes the route we do. I left Larry to his own devices and decided that making conversation was probably not the best idea.

The puppies seemed to enjoy their twilit walk though. We saw a couple of bunnies which, of course, sent them into jubilant attempts at trying to catch the bunnies. We saw a couple of squirrels. Rory dived in a large pile of leaves. She also investigated a pile of tree branches that had been trimmed and left for pickup and managed to get tangled up in them and toppled the pile. We attempted to tidy it up but we walked away quickly.

Now, even though it's not very late, the puppies seem confused as though they don't understand why I'm not nested on the couch ready to watch TV so they can cuddle with me and warm their chilly noses. A week ago, I would have been ready but this week, it's an hour earlier.

I've tried to explain it to them. The only problem is that honestly, I have a bit of trouble explaining it to myself. I know it was a method of saving energy back in wartimes or whatever but, really, do we need it to be getting dark as we're coming out of work? Couldn't we, you know, just let 5 p.m. be 5 p.m. instead of 4 p.m.?

It's all rather befuddling, I find. No wonder the puppies are confused.

Ah well, they're get the hang of it soon enough.

I hope.

Happy Tuesday!

The Nostalgic Wistfulness of Wanting a Recess....

It's only a few days shy of officially being Spring but, for all intents and purposes, at the moment, here in our corner of the Midwest, it already is Spring. Even though it's supposed to snow a little early next week, no amount of snow, no matter how much I love it, can stop the progress that is the transition from Winter to Spring. The crocuses are blooming, the daffodils are nearly there. It's warm outside... breezy and the smell of warmer days yet to come scents the air.

I'm feeling poetic, obviously. This morning, at work, our office was freezing. Outside, it was chilly, a nip of frost to the early morning air. Even though we're supposed to accept Daylight Savings Time, I don't accept it. To my body and my circadian rhythms, it's still the same time as it was a week ago. Just because the government stipulates we move our clocks forward, doesn't mean my natural sleep cycle will concur. Thus, when I get to work at 7:30 a.m., my body AND my brain knows it's only really 6:30 a.m. It also doesn't help that our phones, on a centralized network, somehow revert back every night so that they tell us the real time, not the phony "Daylight Savings Time." So when I get in the office at "7:30" a.m., my clock even tells me it's 6:30 a.m.

It's no wonder it's chilly in the morning. It's practically night when I have to get up at the moment.

Still, by afternoon, the air warmed up and our office did too. One of my coworkers opened up the door to the fire escape and let the balmy, fresh, Spring-scented air flow in. It made me happy, particularly as I'm in the best position in our area to feel the air as it blows in; directly in its entryway.

As the afternoon wore on and the fresh air revived us, the quiet began to be punctuated by the sounds of screaming voices. They were happy screaming voices, those of children who are on recess.

There's a daycare next door to our office park. I think it's a kindergarten. Every afternoon when the weather permits, the kids go outside to play.

In our office, it spurned conversations about the nostalgic, long-forgotten joy of recess. There were jokes about milk and cookies, naps and being able to run around in the sunshine. Yet beyond the jokes, there was always a wistful hint of days gone by.

I think we all wish that recess would continue beyond the school days. In England, we called it 'playtime' rather than recess. For me, as a shy, insecure child, recess was either fun- if I had a friend to spend it with- or it was a dark, dismal place in which I had to find a way to spend 15-20 minutes alone without attracting the attention of the bullies.

It wasn't that I didn't have friends. It was just that sometimes, it was far more appealing to take a book and go sit on the wall and read, avoiding the games of football (or, to my American readers, soccer), hopscotch and 'it'. I never minded playing 'it'. I think it's called 'Tag' over here. Basically, you run around chasing the other kids who are playing and if you touched them, they were' it' and you then had to run away to avoid being double 'it-d'.

When we played 'it', I was part of a team. Even back then, the politics of the playground were a natural deterrant in being able to make friends. There was always some pariah, someone who'd done something as awful as telling a teacher on a troublemaker or someone who had an 'accident' in the cloakroom.

Still, there were games that involved everyone, pariah or not. Games like 'Red Rover' where it was important to have as many players as possible. I always loved 'Red Rover'. Ok, so it was slightly violent and not terribly tame and, well, yes, kids did break bones playing it but it was a full-on, team-based, playground competition. Everyone played, not everyone won.

When I heard the sounds of the kids running around today, punctuating the spring air, I had flashbacks to games of Red Rover. And, naturally, I had to picture playing the same game with my current coworkers. It was an amusing, if slightly barbaric, picture.

I like the idea of having a recess, of being able to get away from our desks to run around the car park, arms flapping like wings and having a good scream of "AAAAAHOOOOOOOOOGAHHHHHHHH!" I think it would be fantastic stress relief.

I also admit, even before we started hearing the sounds of recess, I've often pictured myself running around the building, arms outstretched like wings screaming "AAOOOGAHHH!". Personally, I think if we got to do that, there'd be far less tension and far less need for optimistic pictures in the bathrooms.

Of course, I don't do it. While the idea appeals, the reality does rear its ugly head; My coworkers would probably think I was nuts. They already suspect it, having it confirmed might be a tad too much.

Nevertheless, when I hear the sounds of children running wild, enjoying the freedom of a life without adult responsibilities, part of me longs to join them. I do wish we had recesses where it was perfectly ok to run around like a loon to expend our energies. We do get work breaks but they're not quite the same. On those, we get to drink coffee, leave our desks to make a phone call even, gasp, attempt to make a run to the Target across the road in 15 minutes or less.

Yet we never take time to treasure the fact that a break is, in fact, a break from life. Perhaps we should all run around pretending we have wings and screaming or squealing or just admitting that we're enjoying ourselves.

That's the thing with kids, you see. They never have to stop and say, 'wait, does this count as my break? Oh dear, what if I'm a minute late? Will anyone see? Oh, crap, there's no coffee....now I have to make coffee and that will take a while. If I wait for the coffee to brew, is that my break? Or is it my break when so-and-so comes to ask me a work question and we end up chatting about her kids/my puppies?"

You get the idea. Perhaps if we called it recess and we all got to go outside and run around; I bet things would be different then.

Of course, we might also make a run for it, escaping into our cars and running off into the freedom of a non-working delusion. That's the thing with being a kid. They can't drive. To them, a recess is the span of the playground into which they're released. For us, the whole world is our playground or, more realistically, a vast expanse of places to run errands and 'get things done.'

Even if we had recess, we'd probably find ways to avoid it.

Still, I like the idea of it, don't you?

Happy Friday!

Signs of Spring

It's a gloomy, dark Monday morning. I've already complained about not liking the earlier Daylight Savings Time. All I'll say is that it's been a week since the clocks moved forward and it's not any easier to get out of bed.

However, Spring is almost here. In fact, on Saturday, it will be the official first day of Spring. While I've enjoyed my first winter back in the Midwest after eight years, I am now looking forward to Spring. I went to my parents' house this weekend. They live out in the country and have a lovely big yard to walk around. The weather was mild enough that I got to take a few walks around it. Whereas a few weeks ago, the landscape was a bleached, muted sea of yellows and greys, there is definite signs of Spring creeping through.

I noticed that the grass is starting to subtly start to green up. It's hard to see unless you're looking for it but under the surface of dried winter-worn grass, there is a flash of green beginning to push through. Soon enough the lawn will be a fresh new green but its happening so covertly it's hard to notice unless you're looking for it.

The flower beds are starting to renew themselves too. Green shoots of daffodils are pushing up through the dirt, getting ready to bloom just in time for Easter. Crocuses and hyacinths are also getting ready to add their purples, whites and oranges to the sea of yellow daffodils. I love daffodils, their happy yellows a promise that warm days lies ahead. Soon the garden will be completely alive. I especially love my parent's garden in spring and summer. There's always something to eat. My absolute favourite is picking tomatoes from the garden and eating them when they're still warm from the sun. They always taste so much better than the ones you buy at supermarkets.

The birds are starting to build their nests. I watched one intrepid sparrow fly to the same spot at least eight times, a different piece of construction material for her nest in his mouth each time. It's nice to see them build their nests somewhere safe from the brutal wind. Too often I've come across nests that have been victims of strong gusty windstorms and the eggs lie broken on the ground.

I also almost got divebombed by some sparrows yesterday. My parents have this little shed in which they store their flowerpots and statuary during the winter. One year, we went in there only to discover the corpses of at least 12 sparrows. It was a little eerie. This year, I went in there to see what type of pots my parents had and discovered several sparrows frantically trapped in there. They seemed a little giddy from panic and thus, they flew at my head. It was, naturally, rather alarming. They didn't seem to know what to do to free themselves. The poor things kept throwing themselves at the same window, the 'clunk' as their heads hit the glass quite heartbreaking. I finally tried to herd them towards the open door and after one last kamikaze mission to fly into the window, two of the three birds found the open door.

That left one sparrow. This one seemed to have flown into the window one too many times or it wasn't that bright to begin with. It didn't want to leave. I felt bad for it, knowing that the safety of the shed was probably quite comforting to a little tiny bewildered creature but I also knew that if it didn't get out, it would die. I spent ages trying to herd that bird out. Finally, when I had my back turned, I think it found the open door. I didn't actually see it leave but I couldn't hear its thin, reedy chirp anymore and I think that means it had been freed. The thing is, we don't even know how the birds got in there in the first place. I've resolved to check that shed every time I'm home, just in case more birds get trapped.

It was nice to be able to walk outside. It's very muddy at the moment, boglike in some places but being able to survey the garden and not be freezing while you're doing it is a treat. I know we can still have some more winter weather; around here the danger of frost doesn't pass until early may. Yet even if we do have snow, it won't stick around. Spring is on its way, there's no doubt about it. Even if it is still pitch black in the mornings, the days are getting longer, the nights just a little shorter. Once the daffodils bloom, Spring is here.

I'm looking forward to it.

Happy Monday.

Daylight Savings Time: Wintering Forward

It's a gloomy Thursday outside, cold and grey. There was a magnificant sunrise starting to happen on the horizon. It was still dark when I got up. I hate when Daylight Savings Time happens. I had got used to the dawn twilight peeking in my window at 6:45 a.m. as if urging me to get up. As it got lighter, I became more awake. When I'd get home from work, it would be getting dark around 6:30 p.m. so that by the time I ate dinner, I could pull the blinds and settle in for the night.

Daylight Savings Time has ruined that pattern. Now when I wake up, it's still completely dark. When I woke up Monday morning, I seriously couldn't figure out why my alarm clock was going off. It seemed so early that I almost turned off the music that was trying to wake me up. Then I groggily realized that it was, in fact, time to get up. My body was not fooled. It knew that it was really only 5:45 a.m. but thanks to the conspirators of the universe, I had to go along with their sadistic plot to pretend it was an hour later.

I know that recently, they've moved the dates around as to when Daylight Savings Time begins and ends. It used to be a little later in the Spring and a little earlier in the Autumn. That made a little more sense. It gave the earth a little more time to spin so that it was not quite so dramatic a change to us. It also used to let us say "Spring Forward", "Fall Back" to remember which way to move the hour on the clock. Naturally, I find it necessary to point out that when move Daylight Savings Time up to WINTER, that nice little adage doesn't really help. Yes, it is still winter. Spring begins on March 21 (or 22, depending where you are). Daylight Savings Time happened on March 8th. Yes, people, we are now Wintering Forward but still Falling Back. That's a bit odd really, isn't it?

I know it's all about saving electricity and all that but some of us humans are already just a few steps away from wanting to hibernate in the winter (and yes, mum, I am actually talking about you). Thus, like a big fuzzy bear who is planning on sleeping until late March but is rudely awoken while it's still pitch black and freezing outside and then isn't allowed to sleep anymore, the new, earlier Daylight Savings Time is a little intrusive. There real sign of spring outside except for the fact that it no longer looks like Siberia but, rather, a grey soggy version of it and so it's a little unfair to expect us to instantly accept the change in time. It might not be so bad in places like California where their season exist of "Sunny with a chance of heavy rain", "Sunny with a less chance of rain but it's still possible," "Sunny and hot with no chance of rain whatsoever unless it's that weird drizzle that's just wet enough to make the cars look dirty" and "Sunny with a rare chance of rain but since it's Autumn, it could happen." Yet here, in the Midwest, it's still completely dark in the mornings. Also, I like it to get dark earlier at night. In the summer, it's nice to have long days. In the winter, it's nice to be able to cosily settle in the evenings and enjoy the glow of an electric fireplace.

I can still do that but I've been cheated. I have less time with my fireplace in the evenings and instead, that useful darkness is being forced on me in the mornings making it extremely hard to wake up. I'd like to be able to keep that darkness in the evenings a little longer, the way it used to be. I didn't like the change in time much then but at least it wasn't so dramatic, it evened out day and night a little better, rather like balancing just right on a see-saw so that it remains perfectly still rather.

I know in a week, darkness in the morning and light in the evenings will seem normal. Then the days will start to lengthen more noticeably and I'll wonder what I was complaining about. Then we'll have to move the clocks back and I'll complain about it not being dark in the mornings any more and have short the day feels because of the earlier night.

Yet, for now, I'm grousing about this side of the see-saw, the side that leaves my bedroom dark and inviting in the mornings when I have to leave my warm bed for the coldness of the late winter day. It's hard enough to get up in the mornings but when it's still dark, it can be nearly impossible. Of course, if I went to bed earlier, that might help but what fun would complaining be then?

Happy Thursday.