Midwinter Night's Wind

In the middle of the night the wind came up and whistled through the spaces between the window and the wall next to my bed.

You've heard this sound before. A storybook banshee racing down from the tower of a dark castle towards your breezeway. She's wailing at the back door, knocking over your trash can with a force that wakes you with a start.

The clock says 4:15 am. Walt the cat stays close.

The icy keening continues as you search for your fuzzy pink robe and make your way to the window. Walt is looking too.

Nothing is there.

I switch on the lights to break the spell, but the glare is blinding. I light a candle instead. The flame shudders left and right, then disappears in waxy smoke until I light it again in a sheltered corner of the kitchen near a small window that gives me full view of the backyard as the wind jostles the floodlight near the shed.

Again, nothing but branches strewn across the frozen ground.

I'm going back to bed. Pulling the covers up, I make room for the cat and smooth the top of the blankets.

The best thing you can do is try to sleep. With my head covered in blankets, the wailing finally stops.

In the morning, the weatherman talks about the rising West Wind and the need to tie everything down that could possibly blow away in the 50-mile-per-hour gusts predicted for that afternoon.

Keats wrote "Ode to the West Wind" in the daytime, I think, but not an afternoon like this one I'm standing in, holding my hat, zipping closed my windbreaker, and refusing to raise my eyes as I walk along watching my steps one after another on the pavement.

Inauguration Day

Waking up at 6:30 in the morning on Inauguration Day was like waking up at noon on a regular day. All the good stuff was already out of reach.

The DC metro counted close to 200,000 riders by then, and they were all heading to the National Mall for a primo spot to see Barack Obama take the oath of office and become our 44th President.

If I had managed to get to the metro at 6 am, let's say, maybe I would still be standing there frozen in my boots -- but happy that I had a chance to hear the President's address, and take my place as a witness to history in the making.

Instead, I was under the covers, Walt (the cat) was purring beside me, and my room was as dark as a cave (cabo) at midnight.

I did hear Barack's address on television, and that television was about 6 miles from the Capitol Building. That's how far away Takoma Park is, or how close, depending on whether you're feeling cold just thinking about being outside for 5 hours with 2 million other tried-and-true citizens.

The Chief Justice's flub of the oath of office seemed odd for someone who is supposed to be a stickler for detail. You could tell the soon-to-be President knew the oath by heart. Oh well. The oath still counted. And the President just completed his first day on the job.

I feel better already.

P.S. This image comes from the early campaign days last spring.

Eating Healthy

You never know when a mega-crunch carrot stick or a sweet little strawberry might just save your life.

In this weather the critters that live around our deck -- the wild ones, not Scout, Walt, and Maynard G -- seem to manage with whatever drops down in the spaces between the boards.

Don't get me wrong, picnics are not high on my list when it's 20 degrees outside.

But sometimes I walk out on the deck with a cookie or an apple to scan the trees with my binoculars for a couple of minutes before my toes go numb and my hat blows off into the neighbor's yard.

And a crumb or two or an apple core makes its way to the ground. It's organic right? I don't consider it littering . . . actually I'm exercising my place in the natural scheme of things.

I guess things will be changing next week. With the Inauguration of President Barack Obama, us humans will have to act a little smarter than we have the past 8 years.

Staying inside and studying about how we'll recover from an apparent trillion-dollar deficit, might send me running back outside where the wild things are.

They can join me on January 20 as I make my way down to the National Mall to wish the new President good luck in this heroic endeavor. We have faith . . . and binoculars.

New Year, New Day

Here's to the promise of a new year . . . Resolutions? Hmm . . .

I'd like to spend a week on St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands, go to Maui for the 2009 Humpback Whale Count, and finish writing that book about Rhode Island in the 50s . . .

Oh, right, and I do have a job to go to. Luckily I enjoy that work and being part of a great team of writers and designers. It's hard to find a job you really enjoy. I'm lucky.

Did I tell you my first newsletter project was in 4th grade? Yes, you remember, The Knotty Oaker -- our school newsletter.

If I remember correctly, I was editor of that newsletter throughout 4th grade -- that was back in 1957.

A grammar school for first grade through 8th grade, the Knotty Oak School was originally constructed as a high school for kids in the Coventry area.

That same year, my dad led the new high school's baseball team to it first division championship in more than a decade. I was the team mascot and bat girl. I had a mad crush on the team's pitcher, Kenny Wilkinson, and all the cheerleaders were jealous that I got to sit on his lap before the game.

Fourth grade was my first year at Knotty Oak. Quidnick School, not far from my grandpa's place on Hazard Street, was my school for grades 1 to 3. Surviving 3rd grade with one of the Barr twins is a whole other story that includes "What Happened to Bradley Leonard Behind Miss Barr's Upright Piano." She'd step out from behind there with her ruler high in the air hissing, "Who's next?"

I guess most of us made it through 3rd grade -- skinned knees, poison ivy, schoolyard battles, losing your best baseball cards (Willie Mays). By the skin of our teeth, I figure.

On a more current subject, everybody I know is psyched for the new president.

Kate Clinton is calling all hands to participate in a "clean up" at the White House on the eve of the Inauguration on January 19, which is also Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

We're all supposed to bring "cleaning products" down to the Elipse, and then start scrubbing the old guard out and the new administration in.

Should be fun! For more information, visit Kate's Web site at KateClinton.com.

Winter Solstice Is Sunday

How dark is dark? How quiet?

Wake up early this Sunday morning, let's say about 5 am, and you'll find out. Even with the sky full of bright stars.

In the inner city, of course, your stars are more theoretical than visible, so you'll need to pull your hat over your eyes to get the sky obsidian effect.

The hat helps. Imagine stars your only fire. We know they are out there. The stars, I mean. Even if you're hiding under your covers.

And if you stand out there for a couple of hours (bundle up!), you'll be exactly in time (7:04 am)for the Winter Solstice. With the rising sun comes the literal return of the light after the longest night of the year.

Winter Solstice at sunrise gives us a a chance to welcome back the light literally. So it's a special morning no matter what you're doing -- even sleeping in. Isn't that what Sundays are for??

I'll be out there with you, freezing my toes off but ready to soak in the chi that the Buddhists believe comes down on our pointed little human heads at this magical moment. We can all use the chi . . . what a year we've collectively experienced. Sometimes I wonder if it all really happened?

I guess that depends on what your definition of real is . . . Sometimes, I'm not sure. I know what is is. I learned that about 9 years ago at the same time you did. . . .

Anyway, if you don't plan to get up early on Sunday, remember, intention is worth something too.

Before you go to bed the night before, ask for the blessings of beneficent and wondrous chi. Why not! You deserve it even if all you plan to do is roll over for more time under the covers.

Dolphins Rule at SeaWorld

I'm sure I was a sea creature in a past life, so when I fed the dolphins at SeaWorld ($7 for 3 little fish, but who's complaining), I was happy to meet some relatives!

Dolphins seem to be well tended there at the park. Time with humans is strictly limited, and interactions are monitored (the humans are the ones misbehaving by grabbing the dolphins' toys).

R's birthday was the official reason for making the trip, but the idea of SeaWorld was perfect for my Neptunian dreamscape with or without a notable event to celebrate.

My sisters and brother and I spent our childhood in the water. My mother and father ran the local swimming program for the various "villages" around Coventry and West Warwick. Places like Clyde, Arctic, Phenix, and Crompton where most kids lived in multi-family houses and didn't get to swim much.

Those kids got to go to Lake Tiogue once a week. We went every day with our dad and his very shiny silver whistle.

Up in New England, the water in the middle of summer hardly ever climbs above 60 degrees, but we didn't know any different. Cold makes you strong. We were 5 minutes from Middle Dam and 20 minutes from Narragansett Bay and Scarborough Beach. My favorite then.

I guess I have a new favorite now . . . SeaWorld!

Blue Blue Blue States

If hope is a bird with feathers in the collective soul of our great nation right now, that bluebird is singing her little heart out . . . as the color red disappears under the breaking blue wave of change.

The talk shows this bright Sunday morning are calling for Barak Obama's win to be big -- more than 350 electoral votes. Red states turning blue one by one . . . like a giant ink bottle overturned on the prairie.

As a child of the 60s, I'm inspired. The rise of our collective resolve to re-ignite our democracy feels like the same strong spirit we believed in a long time ago.

The last nail in the coffin of John McCain's fight for the White House? An endorsement by Dick Cheney. Howdy Doody and Princess Summer Fall Winter Spring would have won him more votes than the buckshot-loaded, soon-to-be lame-duck veep.

Good luck on voting day! The line may be long, but the results will be worth it!