TheBanyanTree: Toss Your Crackers among a soggy field

[Sheri Baity]

Yes. Winter has arrived. The cold, crisp snap is in the air as it surrounds us like an old friend of memories. Times of ice skating on a frozen pond with friends. Remembering cross country skiing through the snow covered canvas fields or mountain trails. Smoke is seen billowing up into the skies as heated fire places or wood stoves offer comfort to chilled hands and bones.

Wildlife is more visible in in the landscape with the white back drop. The hustle and bustle of planting and harvesting are just a distant memory now. Families seek comfort indoors as they plan their next summer vacation. Farmers contemplate which seed they will purchase for their springtime crops as time grows nearer.

Soon, as sure as there are the four seasons here in Pennsylvania, Spring will reach us. The white canvas will be replaced with a lush carpet of green grasses. Springs will bubble from the grounds as Winter's frost disappears. Some will be seen bursting from high above on the mountain sides as the sounds of a mighty waterfall are heard.

Oh wait. 

That's no spring, that was just the pipe in the second story bathroom bursting from the minus 0 temperatures outside, beating against my outer wall. Hear the rapids roar as the massive waters flush down through two ceilings, finally finding an exit point through the cellar drain.

Listening to the popping and snapping of the light fixture in the kitchen ceiling is almost as comparable to the exploding trees in the forest from the cold. Oh to ponder. Do we plug the drain in the cellar and allow the water to freeze offering that once faded memory of an ice skating and hockey rink to come to fruition?

No. we do not allow ourselves that pleasure. We search among our treasured keepsakes stored in the basement as we find the main water shut off valve. Then, we make a list of calls to make. Plumber is first, then insurance company, followed by an electrician, search for a shop-vac to borrow and finally after tearing out carpets we line up a contractor to replace the damage.

Yes indeed, Winter has arrived with fury. In all the chaos, I found a bit of comfort. The plumber gently told me, I was not the only one to be paying time and a half for my weekend service call. With that news, I was at peace. I set and I ponder yet another question, to cast your bread upon the waters. would that not be the same if you toss your crackers to a soggy field? 



Soggy Crow

http://www.coldnosed.com/farmstyle.htm