message from the weather gods

  I should know better than to rail against the weather gods...I mean, really! Complaining about springlike weather? (I'm not the only one. My daughter is often heard to be mumbling about global warming under her breath) We had a weekend altered by the fickle nature of winter in Ohio. We called it Ice Storm 2012 and spent it with our dear friends-in-the-woods, stranded by icy roads.

 I'm not complaining. We could not have had more welcoming or gracious hosts, or been made to feel so comfortable.  They fed us deep-dish pizza and Caesar salad...sourdough waffles...chicken stew and rice...hashbrowns and eggs and pots and pots of coffee. All of it amazing.

 Walking about was treacherous - within minutes of rain falling on Friday night there was a sheet of ice covering everything.  Night-time trips to the outhouse were adventures!! Even so, none of us could stay inside - it was so beautiful and transformed out there in the world.

 The girls ran around outside, mindless of the cold and the ice - it was like a trip to Narnia (minus the White Witch. And the turkish delight.).  Every once in a while they'd come running in to get one of the mamas with the cameras to come and look at something miraculous, like these icicles hanging from the bottom of the metal table.  Hard to photograph just right, but like a new fragile fungus, or a coral reef.

 Inside there was a fire in the woodstove, and endless games of dress-up...

 ...and endless games of cards...

 On Sunday afternoon our hosts helped us scrape off the car, threw ashes on the driveway and sent us happily on our way (we had cats to feed...), back into the world of weird weather. (Today it must be in the mid-50's, but that's another post...)

 (Thank you, sweet friends!!!! Next time we'll bring toothbrushes and more beer!!)