I saw the geese! Last week! Oh happy day! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

Geese, robins; crocus, emerging daffodils, and.... ticks.

Yep, spring is here. I wonder whether there were ticks in Ithilien. Probably the orcs brought them there.

Somehow it seems I should close this thread, since it's now spring. But instead: please go to "When Spring Unfolds The Beechen Leaf." Grace and peace, --Helen

[ March 28, 2003: Message edited by: mark12_30 ]

When Winter first begins to bite
 

Where does your Tolkienish journey take you as winter descends?

I'm hoping mine won't take me anywhere!

We're supposed to have temps in the single digits tonight and 6 inches of snow tomorrow.

I'm SO hoping school will be cancelled tomorrow!

I often read LotR during the fall or winter months, since we have many skanky days during that time of year. Though I can be moved to read Tolkien just about any time of year.

Ah, to be young again, and be able to look forward to lots of snow as a break from school. :) We've had over 17" of snow since the first of December, lost most of it on Sunday when it got unseasonably warm and rained, then went into the deep freeze in the wee hours of Monday morning. It didn't get above about 9 yesterday, went subzero last night, climbed up into the teens today, and is snowing now. We're supposed to get 3" to 5" tonight (not enough to even slow down local school buses), and possibly another 6" to 12" Thursday into Friday. I enjoy watching it snow, and I like the way it looks after the streets are cleaned up, but I really hate having to dig out my car when we get walloped (we only have a single car garage, and my husband gets to keep his car there, 'cause he has to leave for work well before the crack of dawn). Happily, though, he's on vacation until the end of the year, so if we get smacked on Friday, he gets to dig out the car.

It's life in Wisconsin. I'm used to it. :)

Well, actually I'm 43. I work at an elementary school and I'm tired of yelling at kids for playing on the ice. It'd just be easier if school was closed.

You're winter sounds like a nightmare to me! I can't imagine school staying open after 3 inches of snow, let alone busses still able to run! Roads are just too hilly and winding here, people would drive off cliffs, or into lakes.

I can see that would be a nice break. I'm 55 and self-employed, so whatever the weather, if work has to be done, it has to be done. :p

I'm sure your hills are bigger than ours, but we get our share of idiots during bad weather, especially when it's early in the season. You'd think that people who have lived here all their lives would remember how to drive in snow, but every year, way too many have to learn all over again -- and that with only an inch or two of snow. Once we've had a few falls under our belts (or tires), they learn. Some years, we hardly have any snow at all, last year we broke all records, this year, we're on a pace to beat last year -- and at that, I'm glad we don't live on the other shore of Lake Michigan. They get the horrendous lake effect snows, which we only get if the wind is out of the east or northeast. Thank goodness for prevailing westerly winds! :)

To browsing through Tolkien's lovely "Father Christmas letters" again! :)

We just had an unusual amount of snow even here in the town. While I dislike the slush this will turn to in the streets, the sight of all the white trees and roofs cheers my mood a lot!

Well, we got our first proper snow of the season today.

In England, we don't get much snow, and I'm hearing that the 15cm we're getting is the most for 18 years!

Well last week, we had a state of emergency due to snowfall. This is the 6th day of no school in two weeks and every other day we’ve had a two hour delay. :D The power actually went out were I live for a few hours, and in the state below us there are still people without power going on 9 days tomorrow. :eek: My mother has stated that next year I am not allowed to pray for snow around my birthday which is this Sunday. ;)

It is hard in the winter for me to get enough sun. I have been struggling to get more sunlight into the house. My boys close the shades and leave them shut. Gah! I don't want to end up like one of Gollum's blind fishes! OPEN THE SHADES!

I think a hobbit hole, in the winter, would be bad for me to live in-- unless it faced south, across a hillside facing south, and the windows were all HUGE.

Maybe I should just move to South Gondor.

The cold will close in soon.

What Tolkienish thing will you do as winter envlelops you?

We will keep a fire going; there will be books to vurl up with; but in the evenings, we will walk under the stars. I love the moon-cast shadow of the bare branches on the ground. Because the moon is higher and the branches are bare, the moonlight is brighter and it draws me onward; if I can wrap in a cloak against the cold, perhaps I will be outside long enough to hear an owl, or even the faroff howl of the coyotes in the forest.

Actualky the spring flowers are all in bloom and the summer storm season is beginning.... I guess this thread is a northern hemisphereic thing. :)