A Winter to Remember . . .

. . . in more ways than one. First, for Georgia's mid-January storm that left us covered with a five inch layer of ice-glazed snow, beautiful to behold, impossible to navigate.

Next, for the early-February blizzard across upper mid-western North America that left a similar but thicker layer of ice over much deeper snow. We happened to be visiting family up north at the time of the storm. On one occasion it dumped us into a ditch on a county road nearBerlin, Ohio. That incident required us to abandon the car and trudge without boots through deep and blowing snow to get to warmth and safety. The ice on Ohio's snow was thicker and tougher and harder to break than Georgia's, and it sliced our ankles as our feet dropped through the surface. Even with a childhood in the blizzard state of Kansas, and later in the snowy winters of Pennsylvania, I can not remember ever experiencing ice of this kind on soft deep snow. It caused the sun to reflect from the rolling hillsides of Ohio farmland in a spectacular blinding glare that looked more like fire than ice.

And then there was the Disney filming that took place yesterday at the house across the street from our house. They put fake green leaves on the bare trees. They painted the grass in our front yard green. They installed over a dozen trees in front of our house, they brought truckloads of equipment, they floated a man in a giant crane and cherry-picker overhead, they parked a two-seater porta-potty in our driveway, they set up a "classroom" in my kitchen for the four child actors who will star in this movie called The Odd Life of Timothy Green, starring Jennifer Garner,,and it was the most astounding lot of unnatural activity seen on our street since it was first cut through the woods in the 1950's. It was beyond exciting for me to host the four charming child stars in my home, but, Pukeko G, I've been worried about the earthworms under the front yard since they sprayed our grass green. It can't possibly be good for them once it washes into the soil. More on that topic next post.

In the meantime, one more memorable winter shot. Last night a light soft snow fell on the fake trees that have not yet been removed from the yard. I'm not permitted to put photos of any of the filming activity on the internet, but this one is permissible, because it has no people in it. I took it to show the difference Hollywood can make---in contrast to another shot of the house after the first snow. Same house. Two snows. One month apart. dkm

p.s. You can google the name of the movie to learn more about the remarkable children that took their lessons in my humble kitchen all day yesterday.