Aye, Aye Skipper

caywood point-- Took a year-ending ramble to the shores of Seneca Lake and spent the afternoon skipping stones across the silvery ribbons of water. Here is a situation where plumbing the depths is easily achievable with a clumsy kerplunk but to skim the surface is sparkling transcendence.

Reader's Poll, Country Style

caywood--

Raise your hand if you ever driven past your retired-guy neighbor's house and happened to glance over at precisely the moment the retired guy has approached his entirely glass front door, his white undershirt tucked into his white jockey shorts.

My hand is up.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

caywood station --Spring has finally and truly arrived. I love nothing better than standing in the back yard admiring the flowers, the garden, the blossoming orchard, and the sheer greenness of it all.

Winter Morning

caywood station --
The view from the balcony on a cold winter morning.

This One's For You, Jasper

unnamed heavy equipment parking area--

What's Sauce for the Goose is Sauce for the Gander Dept.

latimes.com-- Aurora the resident Wonder Chicken was reading her RSS feed this morning and passed along this choice morsel:

Item: Calif. man killed by armed bird at cockfight, was stabbed by rooster with attached knife.

Now, while Aurora is appalled, appalled I say, at this tragic loss of human life, she does feel the need to point out the glaringly obvious way that this tragedy could have been averted.

Don't do cockfights.

Picture This

rt. 96, southbound--

A tiny roundup of recent Rascal's reader board messages.

Last week:
Turkey
Raised on Radio

... is that organic radio?


This week:
Meatloaf

... the meal and the man?

Snow Day!

caywood snow fort-- There's a little storm rolling over* The Nation's Midsection** and Northeast. Perhaps you've heard of it?

People all around us have been talking and speculating about it, swapping advice about which stores are most important to lay in if you want to survive.

Yesterday, we woke up to find... a few inches. But definitely the most snow at one time we've had so far this winter. AND, our road wasn't yet plowed. Feeling hopeful, we scoured the Internet for school closures.*** Watkins? CLOSED! Elmira? CLOSED! Chemung? CLOSED! But what's this? Ithaca: OPEN!

Why why why why why?

Well, probably 'cause it's really not that much snow. Still. Hopes had been raised then dashed.

We made it off our road with a running leap and jumped onto the state highway. Snowy, not treacherous. Trumansburg's streets were downright clear. And then there was Ithaca. A traffic jam on West Hill, really? Superslushy uncleared intersections and side streets, really? The one of us prone to ranting about what constitutes a true snow "storm"**** was heard to huff, "WTF, Ithaca? Haven't you had since 1789 or whenever you decimated the indigenous population to figure out how to deal with snow?"

Fast forward through the day: "This is only the beginning!" warned every weathercaster in the Western world. "Tomorrow expect droves of snow, wintery mixing, patchy freezing rain, and harp seals and polar bear cubs falling from the sky!" Chicago's schools are set to close for the first time in twelve years!***** More speculating around the water cooler. Will the office be closed tomorrow? Should we leave early? Will we ever see each other again?

Back home, 8pm: Ithaca isn't waiting. They've already called it: schools closed tomorrow!

Yeah, baby! That's what we're talkin' about! Rejoicing and tears. We are so happy and cozy, ready for a night of fun stuff and staying up late.

This morning: Yay! It's already a snow day! We don't even have to check. Which is good because it is hard to discern if any snow has fallen since last night when we got home. Our road is plowed and completely unobstructed. Is that blue sky I see?

Satellite images of this storm are awe-inspiring and downright frightening. Except for that tiny patch of non-storm right over Central New York. Weird. But we don't care!

It's been a great day!

_________________________

* Or, if you are into inflaming the masses, "hammering," "slamming," "gripping," or "torturing."

**What newscasters call the Midwest when suddenly "Midwest" isn't descriptive enough or when they are obsessing about body image.

*** Because one of us works in an office that closes with Ithaca School District closes, and the other of us is encouraged to work at home during bad weather.

**** Certainly not less than a foot of snow at once.

***** Proving once and for all who the toughest people in the nation are and who the real winter bad-ass in this relationship is. Who walked to school in -18 degree weather at age 11? Not this kid!

All the News that's Fit to Print

from the Desk of the Caywood Tattler--

Weather Corner
* - 15 degrees F
* Guerilla insulation tactics
* Chickens now indoors
* Round the clock vigil for frozen pipes
* Success! No frozen pipes!

Eating Local, Then and Now
First winter here: Winter CSA membership, exclusive contract for the consumption of root vegetables, no greens after Nov. 15, pork becomes a substitute for chocolate.
Fourth winter here: Still making the effort, if you call eating avocados and mangos "making the effort."

Winter Wildlife Watch
* 83 days since K & A's last deer strike!
* Wildlife camera installed in yard, then relocated to house in conjunction with...
* ... winter vermin infestation kick-off party!
* Your petless protagonists are counting down the days until Bella comes home!

Overheard
Rumor has it that an area realtor has called our neighborhood "trashy." First of all, since when does a neighborhood situated between two vineyards and with lake views qualify as "trashy"? Second of all, everyone knows that a real real estate word for "trashy" is "quirky." Mr./Ms. "Real Estate Agent" are you even licensed in the State of New York?

Adult Education Offering Helps Area Residents Expand Horizons
Looking for something to do now that the 6-class Tai Chi series at the Eagle Hotel has ended? Bust a move (or, as we say in Tai Chi, "Strum the Pei Pa") on over to the Interlaken Central School on Thursday nights for Hula Hooping for Health. Perhaps "Hula Hooping" has hithertofore been filed in your mental pigeonhole somehwere between "Whimsical" and "Outdated" and "Seriously, People." You'll need to reshuffle your categories. May we suggest you now file it somewhere between "Stealth Danger" and "What the Hell!"?

New Year, Dark and Light

caywood-- In recent years, it has been our custom to take a few days between Christmas and New Year's Day for ourselves. Liminality: We love it. Bring it on!

Then you've crossed the threshold, and there it is: your new year.

One day you are watching embers from your backyard bonfire float starward amid your new, resolved hopes, or toasting with a painless flute of prosecco over chocolate fondue with friends, while the next you are staring down the barrel of your workaday world and digging out of the rut you thought you left in 2010.

Kar-BOOM! Don't blow your hand off!

And that is why it is good to have friends.

Today, we were so pleased-- overjoyed, really-- to have a visit from Caywood Alumni Jay, Amy, Lucy, and Jasper.

Taco Bar!
Little House Gingerbread!
Cracking hyper-local walnuts!
Jack Frost nipping at our noses!
Rousing games of "Kids in a Coop," "Horses in a Stall," "Can You See Me?" and "I Just Woke Up!"!

And so, nine days into the new year, we already have another highlight! Thanks, guys.