winter days

    The sleet/freezing rain seems to have stopped, but it is hard to tell.  The snow has a crisp ice crust which should make sledding fast and slightly dangerous - the best combination!  Our back yard has the perfect sledding run that ends one of two ways (well, maybe three) and you always hope for the first.

1. You start at the top of the hill near the red maple and race down towards the shed, and aim to stop by hitting the front of the shed with your body at a sideways angle.  Headfirst happens, but it is not fun.

2. You hook to the left at the bottom of the hill and run the danger of sledding off the edge of the "cliff" created a few years ago when a flood washed away a large chunk of our hill.  It is not as dangerous as it used to be, since we have about four years worth of leaves and branches starting to build things up.

3. You hook left and as a means of avoiding flying down the cliff, you get tangles in the yews that were planted to try and hold some of the soil and curtail erosion.  A prickly alternative.

The children are off from school due to weather.  The cat is on the windowsill asleep after watching the bird feeder.  Classes do not begin for me until the day after tomorrow as I teach only on Tuesdays and Thursdays this term. I have a ton of reading for school to finish, a hot tea kettle and a warm fire.  Good day.