Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Lambs and Lions

The winds of March are upon us, those roaring blasts that snap off limbs as though they were twigs. I don't mind them, except when I'm driving. My tiny little car weaves and bobs like a prizefighter. But, while I'm inside grading papers or out mowing the lawn, the wind is welcomed. Inside, I can listen to the wind chimes as they dance; outside, the breeze blows the sweat off and keeps me from overheating.

I only really fear high winds at night, especially when they accompany a thunder/lightning storm. Several years ago, when I lived next door to my parents, a large oak tree crashed across our common fence and landed up against my bedroom windows. One minute, I was looking at the traffic on the road, the next minute all was obscured by oak leaves. And, of course, the falling tree took out the electricity, so I was also left in the dark (for about two days).

The house I live in now is surrounded by very tall, very old trees--pine and pecan. Limbs from these trees snap easily and I worry that the excessive amounts of rain we've received lately will uproot them. This is probably a groundless fear, but... When I lived in the Highland area of Shreveport, rain and wind crashed over 100-year-old oaks on a regular basis; I imagine a pine tree wouldn't be difficult to topple.

*****
I've graded another set of papers, so now it's time for me to take a break and finish knitting another dishcloth. I love knitting. I taught myself how to knit ten years ago, but didn't really apply myself to it. I picked it up again last winter and knitted about 30 hats, nearly one for each of my co-workers at the bookstore. I sent my daughter 10 or 12 hats, too, to wear, sell or give away. Scarves take me longer because they can be boring; but I did knit myself a poncho/shawl and a long, skinny scarf. Big needles and bulky yarn--those are the tricks to make scarves go faster!
I'm still working on a pair of socks using single-pointed needles. I had to search for a long time to find a pattern for socks that didn't require double-pointed needles. But, I've discovered that, if I have to read a pattern to knit something, I lose interest in it. I like to "wing it." With hats, once I get the basic row pattern down, I can vary the pattern and adapt it to the hat's basic shape. One of my co-worker's says I'm an "intuitive" knitter; she may be right. I just like to do it my way.
So, I'm off to knit now.

1 comment:

dotsmom said...

You started a blog! Great! I'm going to check it out now.