We live in a diamond!

OK, first things first: you are looking at a Woman with Resolve. (No wait - you're looking at a computer screen. Nevermind.) I think it's a sign of Spring Coming, even though our environs are totally sparkling and glittering. (Do you remember the story of the Twelve Dancing Princesses? "...they found themselves in a most delightful grove of trees; the leaves were all of silver that glittered and sparkled beautifully" ...well, that's Madison, February 2008!)

Doesn't look very spring-like, I admit it - and I have to say, I love it. Even the heartiest of my townsfolk are beginning to tire of it - the Lovely Daughter said she has just about had enough. But for my part, I'm loving it, and relishing seeing drifts taller than I am ( insert smart-ass comment about that being no big deal, being as I'm 4'11" and all, here ). Also, it's been long enough that everyone's remembered how to drive in this weather.

But here's the deal: I've been inside all day every day for quite some time with just a few exceptions for work, and so I've been looking around at my nest. And you know what? It has Gotten. To. Me. I probably have the highest tolerance for clutter of anyone on the North American continent...not leaving out my Canadian neighbors here. So I'm going to do a Sweep. I'm going to look into selling things on e-bay because I have some things that I think fall outside of either the Throw-Away bin or the St. Vinnie's bin. When I cull the books, I'm taking some (current novels, &c) to the Sow's Ear where there's a bookcase from which anyone is free to help themselves. Some of the books are going to the Children's Hospital for their library, and SOME are going to St. Vin's or Good Will.

I'd like to have a garage sale too, but a) I've never had one of my own; b) it's a little hard to imagine a yard free from snow at this point; c) I'll have to assess the possibility when I have a better handle on What's Going.

One thing is constant, however: Mr Dearling rarely misses his Daily Constitutional walk of 4-8 miles, regardless of the weather.

His secret for walking when the windchill is -18? "Dress for it." I might also point out that he has his tape player and manages to absorb lengthy lectures on Ancient Greece or Ancient Egypt while walking. It may seem dramatic, the thought of having a brisk walk when it's as cold and icy as all this. Strikes me as healthy. On the NOT-SMART side of the spectrum are those hardy souls I see out there on bicycles . THAT seems to me nothing short of goofy, but that's just me.

HOWEVER! There has been an advantage to all this hibernation: I am 1/3 done with the second-to-the-last toque! And in anticipation, I've gone as far as sneaking down and stroking some yarns in the stash, breathing deeply of their yarny fumes, and glancing quickly -- idly -- over a couple of patterns. Of course, it is not beyond possibility that some gnomes are going to creep out from under the bed (beLIEVE me when I say they could live under there undetected) and frog back a few inches of toque every night so that, like Sisyphus, I am actually re-knitting every day. That CAN happen, I know my fairy tales. Nevermind.

As for this minute? I'm going to pack up my knitting, fill a thermos with melasaneppe, bundle up - and we're going out to find an elevated site from which to observe the expected Lunar Eclipse. I'm as affected by them as the primitive people probably were; I get all over goose-bumpy watching the moon disappear like that. SO glad I can knit in the dark and while watching Something Exciting!

NOTE: I just found out that I have a time reserved to see Franklin for his "1,000 Knitters' Project" at the Yellow Dog yarn shop in Eau Claire!! I can hardly believe it, and I'm hoping to get Dolores' autograph too, if she isn't occupied somewhere sampling local brewskies!