Ice Land

I've never had a chance to visit Iceland, so , Ice Land has come to visit me! Everything outdoors was coated with ice this morning when we awoke. All the windows on the east side of the house were covered......they looked like that frosted glass you can buy at Home Depot or Menards! Trying to walk to the barn was an adventure, slipping and sliding all the way. The worst thing is all the ice on the power lines and tree branches, especially since it is windy, too. Branches have been breaking off and crashing to the ground all day. We lost electrical power around noon, while we were eating pancakes. So Husband had to start a tractor and hook up the alternator to the electric pole in the center of the farmyard to generate power so the cows have water to drink and the bulk tank can run to keep the milk cool. And that way we have power in the house, too. It took him awhile to get the tractor out as the shed door was frozen shut. The house cooled down real fast during that time. I covered up under a quilt on the couch and tried to read a book.

I didn't get much reading done as the phone kept ringing. First the milk haulers called to see how bad our road and driveway were. They were having much difficulty getting to the farms to pick up milk. Then our neighbor called a couple times trying to figure out a way to roughen up the ice in their driveway so the milk truck wouldn't slide so bad on it. Then my daughter seemed in the mood for a heart-to-heart talk about the teenage dramas going on in her life. She can't wait to be done with high school this spring.....it gets that way, especially, I think, in a small high school. The kids just need to move on and meet more people.

So, I, a lover of solitude, didn't get much alone time today. Except this morning right after I got in from chores. My high school son had gone out to help Husband, and Daughter was still asleep. As I made coffee I realized it was Saturday morning and that means there's a travel show on PBS-TV. So I snuggled on the couch with my coffee and enjoyed touring with Rick Steves in northern England. He went to Blackpool, and Durham, and the Lake District. One of the lakes was called Derwentwater. That made me remember a book I had read many years ago, a historical novel by Anya Seton, entitled Devil Water. One of the characters in the book was the Earl of Derwentwater in Northumberland, England. If I remember correctly, the word Derwentwater actually meant "Devil Water", hence the name of the book. Rick Steves also visited the ancient cathedral in Durham, built around 1100 in honor of St. Cuthbert. A lifelong fantasy I've had would be to somehow fall in step with someone who would take me on a cathedral tour of Europe. That would be fantastic!

Peace and blessings!