Thank you,
mark12_30:
* humble bow * I had been secretly hoping you'd start a winter topic to match the wonderous autumn topic with which you graced us.
As for me, I am living "The Long Winter" on three different levels at the same time ... the reality of the past, the reality of the present, and fictionally, in an RPG of the same name in the Shire.
The swirling snow with strong wind-driven flakes yesterday enchanted me such that having some time, I felt pulled into it. Thus, I walked several turns around a small lake.
The day was a perfect match of when I was but five years old, Hobbit-sized, just gotten off the school bus from kindergarten, standing alone in the middle of the road. I lived then in West Seneca, one of those suburbs of Buffalo famous for being in the heart of a snow belt. Thick-falling snow accumulated in drifts by the roadside easily higher than knee-deep. Alone, I suddenly found myself encircled and confronted by a ring of wandering wild dogs.
Something told me to make no move, but to only watch them ... the dog directly in front, the one diagonally to my left, the one diagonally to my right. There was hunger in their eyes, yet they waited on me. I wondered for what, since I had no weapon, no shield like the kind my character Giles Harfoot now carries, no knife of Westernesse discovered in a barrow, no logical chance to survive against the teeth of all those enclosing dogs.
Strangely, I was not afraid, but calmly looked beyond the ring of dogs towards survival. Apart from the dogs, everything was coated in the most beautiful, peaceful whiteness, and a hush. The dogs then were bound up in that whiteness, which seemed to muzzle any thought they might have had about growling. I did not know how I would live, but trusted that I would.
Suddenly, an image flashed in my mind. The Lassie tv show ... and then I remembered the neighbor's collie Laddie who lived just two doors down. And so very gently I called Laddie's name. Laddie trotted peacefully next to me and stood.
One by one, the dogs in the ring drifted away. The keen gleam of impending attack in their eyes faded to disappointment, as they each turned without a sound. Laddie then escorted me to my door.
Now the year is 2003, and it is again The Long Winter. The snow flies, settles, returns, and I wonder some days how long the provisions will last. For on December 25th, I prayed for a Christmas miracle seemingly impossible given Time. "I know it's Christmas Day and all businesses are closed, but I want a job for Christmas."
Then last night, a new wave of hope unlooked for washed over me as I happened to read this, posted by
lindil:
Quote:
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by the way Greetings on the Old Calendar feast of the Nativity of Christ -tonight/tomorrow morning is when the feast of Nativity is celebrated in among other places] Bethlehem and all of Russia and in addition to a few households in America.
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Christmas Day, today? And I have a preliminary job interview this day.
Gandalf the Grey
[ January 07, 2003: Message edited by: Gandalf_theGrey ]