Even with slowly lengthening daylight, what little sun we have has been eclipsed this year by pandemic hair, ice and snow. I’m willing to forego a haircut if this story reaches the distinguished secret order of The Sons of Lee Marvin. My hair is gray and growing longer. I’ve got credentials in the plant world. I am worthy. Jim Jarmusch, Tom Waits, Iggy Pop, Nick Cave and John Lurie: Are you paying attention?
Okay, I am no “Kid Shelleen” but I should be considered as a Son of Lee Marvin.
There’s not much to commend February in central Kentucky.
You know it’s a long day when daily amusement comes down to watching your dog dig for moles. Our groundhog saw his shadow on Groundhog Day. Spring is still weeks away. Rufus has never once caught a mole.
Plants got glazed by ice a week later. We weathered the storm and were grateful this “event” was nothing like the January storm of 2009 when we went to bed one night and listened to tree limbs crack and fall all night. No power for a week. I volunteered to be the steadfast caveman and protect our freezing cold home. Rose said to hell with that fool idea. We soon decamped to her ninety-year-old Aunt Stannye’s. She kept the thermostat locked down at 90 F (32 C). We had to crack open the window at night.
“Chilly” pepper. Mary Vaananen photo.
Rose breezes through the New York Times crossword puzzles every morning and, during the pandemic, has plowed through 20 years of Acrostics. Now with nowhere else to go, she has fallen prey to jigsaw puzzles. Could this be a trap? Some sort of résumé builder for old-age home admission. I fear we both will have reached the end of the line when our closets have become stuffed full of jigsaw puzzles, each of them with a dozen or more missing pieces.
At least it’s a seed-packet jigsaw puzzle
Ice and snow are in the picture all week.
I’m waiting for infinite blue sky.
I’m desperate for blooms.
They’re coming.
Right?
SIR. While I doubt my support will mean anything, I nonetheless offer it wholeheartedly to your campaign to join SOLM. You would be a worthy addition.
Thank you! You don’t know how much your support means to me.
They got it wrong, didn’t they, those ancients who supposedly celebrated the winter equinox, which manages to herald the arrival of very worst of the winter: what’s to celebrate? (and Midsummer manages to arrive before summer has hardly started here….)
Suddenly, just as this post went up, I can see patches of blue sky. Mercy me. Maybe this little bit of sunshine will melt a little of our ice-coated branches before the next ice-snow wave tonight.
When I am at my winter’s wit’s end, my South African bulbs effortlessly put up their blossoms (after a year of almost no care) to save me from misery.
Karen, good for you. We’ve got paltry few indoor plants. I’m looking at a pot of seed-grown amaryllis that is sending up a few puny leaves. They’re alive but not yet ready to offer much encouragement. We’ve also got a few dozen galax leaves that are good, Christmas greenery holdovers. Maybe I should sprout some bean seeds. I love the ghostly white cotyledons.
Definitely a Son of Lee Marvin!
Julie, thanks for your support!
Hi Allen, Great hair! We used to have a Husky who was a fierce hunter and accomplished catcher of moles. She would sit for hours watching, then silently rocket across the yard, pounce, and take a full bite of earth mixed with mole. Very stealthy. She never barked.
Tom, I’m afraid Rufus needs some lessons. He’s all bark and no show.
Enjoyed your post and photo. Yes, a lot of misery to be had, BUT, we’re not in Texas.
Jean, thanks for commenting. Yes, I feel very sorry for folks in Texas, and elsewhere, who don’t have power. A friend, who works in Houston said his condo has filled up with his grown children and assorted other kin, who all lost power.
Here in Louisville we often lose power. We’re on a tiny grid and the transformer seems to blow anytime a squirrel farts on the power line. Somehow, during this latest 10 day stretch, we’ve been lucky.
Here in Maine we have powerful squirrel farts…must be true because our power goes out like yours. As for your hair, you could pretend you have the retro look of the 60’s and start a new fad.
Just think, only 3 weeks till Daylight Savings Time begins…what joy or is it what? joy?
Kris, it’s 6 F this morning, the sun is shining, the squirrels are scarce, the power’s on and the temperature’s heading toward the 50s on Tuesday.Glory be.
Hi Allen, Thanks for your perspective in these columns as they are always a bright spot in this cloudy world of winter & pandemic hair!
Dennis, a spring buzz cut is on one of many wish lists.
Enjoy your brief Lee Marvin phase. With the new and improved South African Covid variant on its way, I’m afraid we’re all headed into Christopher Lloyd territory.
Back to the future…Oh,boy!
You made me laugh. Thanks.
Sandra, some mornings I try to remember to practice a “smiling gong.” It’s a simple qi gong practice. I stare in the mirror at my Lee Marvin hair and smile. Or try to smile. For 3-5 minutes. I have to work on it at the beginning, but finally Old Lee starts to smile, and may even laugh at himself.
Allen, I am fortunate that might wife as cut my hair since we were married 45+ year ago so I have not really had to worry about the lack of a trim during the COVID era. Why just last evening I got groomed pop so I once agin look respectable. She told me I was starting to look like I did in the early seventies only now I’ve turned totally gray.
We just exited a rather cold spell with about five days whose high never inched above zero. One night we were -26 and the next -23! Fortunately, we have ample snow cover on the ground. It will, however, be a good test winter for some of our woodies. My 150+ interior plants will get me through until the arrival of spring. Stay well!
Mike, I’ve had my two Covid shots and have not heard from the Sons of Lee Marvin, so I’m planning on a haircut this week. I’m ready to move on. I don’t envy your -20 F cold climate in Minnesota. We got into the single digits last week but will be warming into the 50s on Tuesday. Springtime? Not quite, but we’re edging closer. I’m hoping for a few winter aconites by next weekend.