Tonight's rising of the Wolf Moon..

The Wolf Moon compliments of Earth and Sky

Tonight is the rising of the Wolf Moon. It was named the Wolf Moon by the Native Americans in northern and eastern United States. By this time in the winter, food supplies were scarce and the wolves would often circle these villages and howl during the night. I must say that I would find it difficult to sleep if there was howling around my old house!

It has also been know as the Old Moon or Moon After Yule. This January full moon will appear to be the smallest in size to the viewing audience.

If you live in my area, tomorrow evening, January 16, you can join me and others at Wing Haven Nature Preserve for a celebration of this full moon and a hike down to Little Gentian Lake. The event sponsored by Acres Land Trust,  begins at 7 and will conclude by 9. Please dress warmly as the temperatures will be in the single digits by tomorrow evening.

No matter where you are please enjoy the Wolf Moon this evening.

Until tomorrow.

"Suddenly the sky turned gray,..."

Indiana photo by Rachael Link

The snowfall in Indiana last week produced many photos on Facebook. As much as folks complain about the cold and snow, it is also the topic of conversation and photographs.

Rachael lives out in the country and just happened to snap this photo of the barn on her property. As you can see there are no footsteps towards the barn and the large bush is in the way of chores as well. I have to wonder about the farmer or farmers who once lived there bracing the winter weather to milk the cows, feed the pigs, scatter grain for the chickens and help with the lambing. 

The photo brought the poet, Melville Cane, to mind immediately. Cane was schooled at Columbia University as an attorney and worked in legal copyright. He died in 1980 just a few days short of 100 years old.

I hope I won't be in trouble to copy his poem here. Melville, I give you all the credit and my readers will love it!

Snow Towards Evening

"Suddenly the sky turned gray,

The day,

Which had been bitter and chill,

Grew soft and still.

Quietly

From some invisible blossoming tree

Millions of petals cool and white

Drifted and blew,

Lifted and flew,

Fell with the falling night."

Melville Cane

Settling back into Indiana life, just in the nick of time...

Settling back into Indiana life, just in the nick of time - KPCNews: Kpcnews

Dear Folks,

Here is the link to this week's column. As always, I appreciate your reading. I have made some changes to my Blog; I hope you enjoy them as well.

Until tomorrow,

Lou Ann

"Burning the Christmas Greens"

My Christmas tree with the candles lit.

Dear Friends,

During this week of the Polar Vortex storm, I took down my Christmas tree. I think nothing is as forlorn as taking down a tree. It only matches the uplifting joy of putting up the greens.

As most of you know I decorate my tree with candles as well. This is a long standing German tradition that I brought home with me from my stay in Germany years ago.

However returning home this week, I found my tree was shedding its share of needles and needed to be taken down. Candle by candle....trinket by trinket...went back into the box.

I was hoping someone would brave the blizzard winds to come over and help me haul it out, but in the end I did it myself. I usually carry my tree out to the bird feeders to act as a buffer. This year I didn't quite make it that far with the deepening snow. I will get it there sometime this weekend, stand it up tall, and let birds rest upon its branches during the duration of winter.

When I lived on the farm I cut up the branches and placed them on my herb beds for protection from the winter winds. Those beds were up on a hill and received much bitter cold.

My poet friend, Norbert Krapf, told me about the poem, "Burning the Christmas Greens" by William Carlos Williams. I am sharing a link to the poem at the bottom of this post. Please listen to it as well. I love it, and it is a new poem to me.

Just as a thought, once when living on the farm we did burn the greens in the woodstove. I am surprised we did not burn down the farm house! (At least not then, but that is another story!)

Until tomorrow,
Lou Ann


http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/blog/2010/12/weekly-poem-burning-the-christmas-greens.html

Another view...

Here is a view of downtown Angola. Thanks again to Jim.

Another view of the downtown.

Here are a couple more photos. These are from the downtown area. I drove through town yesterday, and it was strange peering out from these drifts looking for traffic. I understand the snow was hauled away during the night to an unknown destination. 

Today the schools are closed for freezing fog. Interesting weather we are having in this part of the country. Rain is expected for the weekend which will flood all areas, of course.

In the meantime, there are books to be read, cupboards to clean, and stories to write.

Until tomorrow,

Lou Ann

A ribbon of snow...

Photo by Jim Measel

This photo was taken by Jim Measel, news director for WLKI. He was the first to make it back to work on Monday morning. This is our main highway into town, Route 27. As you can see it is completely silent and void of traffic and folks out and about.

As for out and about? Schools, businesses, libraries, etc. have been closed all week. The storm left mounds of snow, and bitter cold temperatures in its wake. We are beginning to thaw and check on one another once again.

Storm of 2014

Just a few photos from the Storm of 2014

My street

My backyard

My front yard crab apple trees

Karen and Aaron's House

The House at White Picket Gardens

My street again.

These photos were taken on Sunday morning as the snow began to fall. It was still warm outside, in the low 30's, and all the neighbors were outside shoveling away last week's snow in preparation for what was to come. 

I have not been out to take photos since then because of the cold, but we are now up to zero so I guess it is time to venture out and see the world. We have been under a code red since Sunday late evening. All schools, offices, etc., have been closed since then. There still is no school for all the students here in this part of the country. I think tomorrow we will begin to open our doors once more. It has been a fun time with family and friends with dinners and games in the evenings. No one is in a hurry to go to bed or even get up early. Hope all are well and healthy where you are living.

Until tomorrow, 

Lou Ann

New Year's Eve sunset at Southpoint on Ocracoke Island with Lou Ann Homan.

Dear Friends,

We come to yet the ending and beginning of another year. The New Year usually means so much to folks...losing old habits, gaining new ones. For myself, how many times have I made the resolution to lose ten pounds!

It is good we think we can change and make ourselves better, and I believe these resolutions do indeed come with good faith!

This week has been a lazy one on Ocracoke Island. It is nice to lie fallow at times as in winter fields. Some time has been spent on reading, other time on movies, beach walking and in search of the Snowy Owl. (Photo tomorrow!!)

Wishing you health and happiness is in my thoughts for you. Take care, dear readers, thank you for finding my photos and my words of interest to you.

Today's blog will end with a poem, of course! This is in the original Scottish form as written by Robert Burns.

Until tomorrow,

Lou Ann

Should auld acquaintance be forgot, 

And never brought to mind? 

Should auld acquaintance be forgot, 

And auld lang syne! 

Chorus - For auld land syne, my dear, 

For auld lang syne, 

We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet, 

For auld lang syne. 

And surely ye'll be your pint stowp! 

And surely I'll be mine! 

And we'll tak a cup o' kindness yet, 

For auld lang syne. 

Chorus... 

We twa hae run about the braes, 

And pou'd the gowans fine; 

But we've wander'd mony a weary fit 

Sin' auld lang syne. 

Chorus... 

We twa hae paidl'd in the burn, 

Frae morning sun till dine; 

But seas between us briad hae roar'd 

Sin' auld lang syne. 

Chorus... 

And there's a hand, my trusty fere! 

And gie's a hand o' thine! 

And we'll tak' a right gude-willie waught, 

For auld lang syne. 

Chorus... 

Robert Burns

Drifting down the tracks of Christmas memories -

Drifting down the tracks of Christmas memories - KPCNews: Kpcnews


The above link is this week's column sharing Christmas memories. When life changes, it is important to establish new customs and traditions so I did just that fourteen years ago.

The Christmases I spent on the farm with the boys cannot be replaced. I knew when I was divorced that it would be impossible to continue the traditions without the farm...without the children...without the past.

It is not easy to venture out to new horizons when we are caught up in our own traditions, but there comes a time that we must do it.

The above link shares a few of the adventures I have embarked upon since those days. I think the challenge is to be able to let go.

I met a woman the other day who said that her Christmas was to be the same as always. She was a single woman who had no reason to be living the same traditions that were making Christmas a season of sadness. I told her to hop a plane or a train and just go somewhere new.

She gazed at me as if I had told her to fly to the moon. Do we need permission to try new outings? Who gives us the permission to go or who tells us not to go? I guess these are things to think about in the new year.

As for this Christmas I decided to take a plane to visit Ocracoke. It is lovely here this time for year...no visitors (sorry about that), and no heat! It is always nice to visit Philip in his village of family and friends as well.

I took this photo of the Methodist Church yesterday in the late afternoon. Enjoy as well.

Until next time, let your mind wander a bit.

Lou Ann

A view from Cushendall, Ireland.

A lovely view of winter from Cushendall, Ireland. This photo was taken by my friend
and storyteller extraordinaire, Liz Weir.

The Winter Solstice has passed balancing the dark and the light. My old house welcomed friends and family as we gathered on that night to share each other's cooking, read poetry, and sing songs. We ended the night by lighting my Christmas tree and singing "Oh Christmas Tree."

As each guest left I handed them a bag of cornmeal to scatter around their favorite tree. It is an old Solstice custom.

As we near Christmas I have photos from friends and poems to share with you as well. The above photo was taken by Liz Weir who lives in Ireland. I had the opportunity to spend time with Liz a few years ago in Ireland and also in the United States. On this day she is snowed in by an old-fashioned blizzard!

The poem is from John Cunningham. I think it fits the photo very well. Enjoy the poem and, if you feel like it, please dance a jig at the end! We read this poem at our Solstice party.

"The dark of winter wraps around us tight.

The lamps are fired, and flickering light 

beats time to the fiddle as notes float softly down, 

like the years' first snow.

While outside the window a blast of late December wind

whistles harmony to the drone of the pipes.

We push the old year back against the wall

so we can dance a jig for Christmas

and welcome in the New Year."

John Cunningham

1729-1773

Dublin, Ireland

Winter Solstice

Today is the Solstice. It is one of my favorite days in all the year. It is a simple day with the world balancing the dark and the light, the day and the night.

Traditionally, we light fires, sing songs, and wish for the sun to return. As we celebrate the darkest of the dark tonight, let's remember to toast the sun giving her permission to come back to warm our fields and grow our gardens.

Happy Solstice.

A winter scene in my small town in Indiana.
Photo by Tyler Moor

Lines for Winter

Tell yourself

as it gets cold and gray falls from the air

that you will go on

walking, hearing

the same tune no matter where

you find yourself—

inside the dome of dark

or under the cracking white

of the moon's gaze in a valley of snow.

Tonight as it gets cold

tell yourself

what you know which is nothing

but the tune your bones play

as you keep going. And you will be able

for once to lie down under the small fire

of winter stars.

And if it happens that you cannot

go on or turn back

and you find yourself

where you will be at the end,

tell yourself

in that final flowing of cold through your limbs

that you love what you are. 

Mark Strand

Sing Ye Noel...

The cabin has been electrified, but is heated with an old pot belly stove.

Helen Swenson's Art Cabin

Jonah at the Christmas sing at Wing Haven

This is my youngest grandson, Jonah. (I have four in total!) I took this photo of him at the Christmas sing at Wing Haven in Angola, Indiana.

This lovely old cabin, nestled in the woods in northeastern Indiana, has been owned and cared for by Acres Landtrust since 1983. The cabin (see above) was built from 19th century tulip logs and was the art studio for Helen Swenson. The studio is open to the public the first Sunday of every month and the sing is held the first Sunday of December. 

This is the event that begins the Christmas season for me, just as you have similar events in your hometown. We gather for a Christmas sing-a-long with guitar music from some of our faithful folks who have always played! 

We just shout out the name of a song and we all fumble to find it as we are wearing gloves and mittens to stay warm. We sing and then find another one. Wassail and cookies are served after the event in the same cabin. The children always run outside down the ravine to the lake while the adults gather round and tell stories.

For more information on Acres Landtrust or to donate to the preservation of these beautiful land in Indiana, please log on here:

(http://www.acreslandtrust.org/templates/System/details.asp?id=44551&PID=625176, 

Stories from a Small Town

This is the Mound in my hometown.

Photographer Bill Eyster took this photo on Saturday evening after the big snowfall. He was on his way home from a photo shoot and said he just had to stop and take this photo.

This Civil War monument sits in the middle of our town and the commerce of this small town spins around this relic. The monument is decorated every Christmas and has music piped out of the base for folks shopping or just strolling by. The music used to play all night long until a few folks who lived in the downtown complained about the tune. The rest of us love it!

When our ball teams or choirs or bands come home after returning from competition they always circle the mound and honk (more than once!) Actually they go around several times!

I always make the circle myself when coming home. The mound is our welcome mat to visitors.

Here is the wikipedia entry:

The most popular landmark in Angola is the Monument, referred to by locals as "The Mound" or the 'Circle'.

Built in 1917 by E.M. Heltzer, The Monument commemorates the Civil War. It has statues for all four branches of the military. On top is the statue of Columbia, facing east. It cost $17,000 in 1917, over $1,000,000 if it were built today. The Monument is the center of many town celebrations and festivities. It was unveiled on Thursday, September 13, 1917 at 1PM to much fanfare. On the Monument are plaques with the names of the 1,278 men from Steuben County who fought in the war. Per capita, more men from Steuben County enlisted for the war than any other county in Indiana. The monument underwent a renovation in 1993 and was re-dedicated during Fourth of July ceremonies.

I was asked by Mayor Selman to do the dedication of Columbia in 1993. A scaffold was built for me so I could be seen from all four directions. I told her story and sang a few songs. I spent weeks sitting on the mound, waving to friends, and trying to imagine times gone by. It was the biggest honor ever given to me by my town.

Come on by and visit, take a spin around the mound, and then come on over for supper.