Monday, March 2, 2015

February round up


Sunday 1 March 2015

Drizzle

February is now complete and the prevailing feeling of the month was ennui.  I haven't sensed boredom in so many years now.  Perhaps it is because I am now involved in dog walking every day.  Our dog used to walk himself in the local area - we are far from roads - and would always return during the day.  Now he is 12 and his eyes and ears aren't so hot and so when he wanders off or chooses to follow walkers into the wood, he gets lost and is then sad and confused.  Last year he had a week on his own in a village 12 kms away and another time went down onto the big main road where, fortunately, he was picked up by the local dog warden and taken to a railway hotel owned by a (rare) dog lover.  The local policewoman came around to see me and told me that the next time, I would be getting a fine, so we do dog walking.

In past years, we hibernate in Winter, emerging to work or shop or go to the gym/baths. This winter we have pounded the roads, severally and jointly.  The winter has been exceptionally wet and grey and especially February.  Massachusetts has had the coldest winter in decades, to the extent that the sea was coming in as slush - this amazing photo was taken by a surfer

Nantucket slush wave

When I got to the top of the dunes I see that about 300 yards from the shoreline that the ocean was starting to freeze.  The high temperature that day was around 19F.  The wind was howling from the south west, which could typically make rough or choppy conditions not good for surfing, but since the surface of the sea was frozen, the wind did not change the shape.  Photograph Jonathan Nimerfroh

At the very end of the month, positive things happened.  I met a stimulating business mentor, I gave up a very bad habit, I developed a vision for this blog and for my group, my cousin invited me to Houston in the Fall, I had a visit on the top rental unit.  I also started seeing repeating numbers which I take to be an excellent sign.

Looking back at at this month, I see the first stirrings of something.  The good ship, Leaving Normal, is still in harbour but she tires of the mooring.  The moon has set and, whilst it is not yet dawn, there is an expectant silence.  The birds in the trees are listening and the first tiny wavelets are starting to swell and push their way along the hull.  The sails are still furled but are all in shipshape condition and ready to serve.  The top most flag responds to sudden stimuli.  The tide is turning.


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