I’m a summer girl through and through, but even I have to appreciate the magical aspects of a wintry world when everything appears to be encased in glass. Here is my “little dude,” a garden statue I planted alongside a path near my house a couple of summers ago. Then, when the sun was high and the heat was heavy (oh, how I miss that heat!) he was surrounded by flowers. Now he’s cold, cold, cold beneath an icy, crystal veneer–a victim of Kansas City’s first significant winter storm of the season. Inside Olive and I are swaddled in blankets, nice and warm. She’s working on a chew stick, a Christmas present she’s been gnawing on for days, and I’m reading a book about Antony and Cleopatra*, a recent find from my favorite thrift store. Meanwhile, my little dude is out there collecting new layers of ice as it continues to fall from the sky. I’m glad I’m not him!
*The book is actually called Cleopatra and Antony, a non-fiction book by Diana Preston. Published in 2009, my copy is a hardcover (am I the only one alive who still prefers to read hardcovers?) in perfect condition. A thrift store that I visit each week has a wonderful book section. It has supplied me with enough reading material to last me through the winter! Incidentally, I’m not familiar with Diana Preston, but she’s written several other books. One listed on the jacket flap of my book is Lusitania: An Epic Tragedy. I’d like to read that one, so I’m keeping a look out for it.
