Fake Snow

This morning, the snow was beginning to look like two-day-old, 7-minute frosting on a Lord Baltimore cake, as it slumped and sagged into partially thawed dark places, soggy and forlorn.  All the glitter was gone, it was beginning to seem like our permanent pathways were imminently destined to turn into mud.

And then...it started snowing.  Again.  So, yours truly and MM are back to hauling hay on a tiny sled.  My wardrobe, as you will undoubtedly note, stays pretty conservative!  My outfits don't have a lot of variety out here just off the one-lane road!

I know, I know!  I still say, "I LIKE snow!"  But maybe it's time for me to start whispering.

You're all probably too young to remember this, but sometimes the type of snow reminds me of when decorations for the Christmas tree were nothing like all the elaborate concoctions of today. In addition to the few and simple ornaments my mom carefully hung on the tree year after year, her final touch was the light cotton batting she used to cover the base of the tree, upon which she then sprinkled mica to remind us of the snow we hardly ever had, living on Puget Sound.

I'll bet many don't even know what mica is.  Ever heard of isinglass?  Again, things used to be simpler, less polluting.  Clean-up after Christmas didn't mean throwing another spray can of fake snow in the trash.  The mica that remained after all the presents were opened and stored, was carefully gathered up in the cotton bat and added back to its original box.  Both the cotton batting and the mica would be used again and again in subsequent years.  Any wayward pieces of the mica were simply swept out the door, and added back to the earth without impact other than an occasional eye-catching sparkle when spring arrived.

Today, India has the largest deposits of mica in the world. China is the top producer, followed by the USA.  Mica was mined in Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Maine up into the 1960's.  Isinglass is the thin, transparent sheet of mica that was used as see-through (more or less) curtains in horseless carriages. (Remember the Surrey with the Fringe on Top?..."with isinglass curtains you could roll right down in case there's a change in the weather...") To broaden your knowledge further (on a day when you're stuck inside anyway) take a keystroke stroll over to Wikipedia and learn more about mica and its uses as well as it's fascinating connection with Teotihuacan just outside Mexico City.

I do wonder, though, if the mining of mica makes mischief (translated:  devastation) on the environment.  Doesn't all mining do so?  Hmmmmm.  Food for thought...maybe we'd better just skip the fake snow altogether. And a few other things as well...

Here We Go Again.....

Are you ready?  Get bundled up.  Dust off the sled! (Sleds are not just for kids!)

On all the surrounding farms, the sound of chainsaws is echoing off the hillsides.  I count at least three, and we'll add ours to the mix shortly as everyone's firewood piles have dwindled precipitously and we're once again looking at lots of SNOW.

We've closed the door to the chicken run and the chickens are snugged in with feed and water, but wondering where their sunrise went. 

We've moved the cows into the close-by pasture and made a covered pile of handy hay bales at the gate. 

We're looking at the possibility of a two-dog night, here, just off the one-lane road, and the weather forecast out of NOAA Weather in Roanoke, gives us "in-the-pink" status...and that ain't good! 

They're calling for four to eight inches of the white stuff on frozen ground.  That means it starts to stick with the first flake.  Temperatures are once again plummeting and there's more to come. 

I'm going with homemade chicken soup tonight using last night's leftovers with a jar of last year's tomatoes added for good measure.  We renewed our library books by phone yesterday, so we're all set in that department.  We have oil lamps to read by should the power fail.  With the woodpile replenished, we can sit snug as two bugs in a rug,  and let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!

Have a lovely weekend, everyone!