Tuesday, December 2, 2008

o, the things i've seen

Last night the boys and I watched Jupiter and Venus snuggle up to the crescent moon. The two planets have been putting on a lovely display for the holiday weekend, and the addition of the moon's sliver was charming. Now that we live in the country, watching stars is more fun than frustrating, and we have taken to asking more questions and getting more interested than ever. I confess that it's getting to be fun to figure out the location of the constellations, and to watch them in their dance across the year's night sky. A couple weeks ago I was driving toward Paint Bank in the evening and saw my first bear. He wasn't much bigger than Bruiser, and he played with the leaves in the road as he crossed over to the right bank, heading off to search the trees for heaven only knows what. He took a good long look at me and the car before heading off, and I confess that I gripped the wheel and thought, "O please don't think I'm a big shiny blue ball to play with." Other than that moment, it was pretty cool to watch him. He seemed to be having fun. Thanksgiving was a quiet interlude, and I was glad of it. I finished Brsinger, started Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (which I highly recommend), and reconnected. David and I had a lovely lobster dinner at home on the Holiday Evening, watched some movies and played and lounged. The Other Boleyn Girl, Holiday, Live Free or Die Hard, 1408, The Kingdom and Fracture all made it to the big screen in our house, to great welcome. Craig schools were closed yesterday and two hours late today, and it seems that everyone is getting a slower-than-normal start to this month, the gears moving at a more languid rate than normal, even for coming back from holiday. It has been an enjoyable lacuna, and even yuletide festivities are not enough to throw off my centered calm.