Sunday, January 8, 2012

Impossible Blossoms

One week into the darkest of months, and while out digging in the garden this morning I came across these most unlikely of unseasonal flowers. It's not unheard-of to snip a few hard rosebuds for a Christmas vase, but I've not ever witnessed such color in the winter landscape. I'm certain that a hard freeze will, anytime soon, snap each of these to death.




And while these anomalies of the natural world -- small and understated -- continue to sing their warm-season song, my own voice has gone into its cave wearing a coat of dense fur, desiring one long nap until spring.

But.

We don't get to indulge ourselves, no chance of going all-bear.

So instead there's a daily grumping, a slumping through each hour.

Remedies include:

1. English breakfast tea with milk.
2. Marathon video sessions (Showtime's Shameless is highly recommended).
3. A stack of novels.
4. A martini, three olives, very cold.
5. Popcorn (which I stuttered out as "cop-porn" yesterday. [Um, no.])
6. Homemade soup.
7. Sleep, when it graces me with its increasingly rare presence.

And seeing that the likelihood of my going geographic in my quest to find a cure for winter is highly unlikely, I welcome any/all suggestions: tisanes, tinctures, infusions.

10 comments:

  1. Next time you are outside...and it's not too cold, try succumbing to the wind. Instead of holding your body hard and pulling your clothes tight about your body, let go and relax and let it just wash over you.
    Look carefully at that big grey sky and I bet you will see shades of pink and lilac and even yellow.
    Let winter in...she can be amazingly calm and sweet and nourishing. Remember, when you don't have to obey the sun and push out shoots, you have the opportunity to grow down into your roots.

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  2. In order of decreasing expense:
    Olympus Spa (Korean bathhouse)
    Hothouse Spa (Cap Hill bathhouse)
    Sauna at Medgar Evers pool

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  3. I was going to try to come up with something, but I've chosen the geographical solution, so who am I to offer advice? I must say, though, that finding such little miracles as these winter blossoms would fill me with hope.

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  4. SL is right; you (we) need to be in the Tropics.

    Otherwise, I suggest totally relaxing your shoulders when out in the cold. Try it.

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  5. Oh, I love all your suggestions. And Cro Magnon's advice always worked for me when I lived in cold climates. I've grown to be such a weather wimp since I moved to Los Angeles.

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  6. the photographs are sooo wonderful, T.

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  7. How wonderful to find those lovely flowers. Sorry, can't offer any suggestions as I have been in the north of New Zealand since 1965 and we don't have winters as you know them.

    I do like all the other suggestions though.

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  8. Your list seems quite good. As a non-drinker, I can't speak to martinis (except from past experience, but we won't go there), but otherwise there are several of yours on my list, with popcorn ranking highly. I'm trying to make it a point to get out as much as I can when the weather is reasonable--tho I realize it's a bit less rainy & more moderate here than in Seattle. Good luck!

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  9. try that martini while soaking in a hot bath.

    the flower shots are fantastic. I just cut some lillies yesterday from a friend's garden and they are now sitting in a cut-glass vase. In January!

    We get cold here in Sac, freezes at night and I cover up my potted azalea. But not Seattle cold. That's bone-chill cold.

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  10. You have flowers. Outside. You are a lucky woman.

    A cure for the wintertime blues? Hot sunshine, a beach, a good book.

    We've been lucky this year, mild temps and little snow. That's changing in the next few days but it has made winter bearable this year.

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