portal

There are a few places in the area that give me the feeling of being from a different space or time. When my head feels like that, I find solace at these places, as if my out of sync mind connects to the out of sync place and can find peace. One of these places is the old stone church up in West Boylston, remnant of a place that is no more. With it's hollow emptiness presented on the shore of Wachusetts reservoir it evokes feelings of Scotland or England. Today there was no way to get to it and just be in the space, the snow was too deep and I had to admire it from afar.

speed

After 60 minutes and about two miles of attempted driving in total gridlock of post snow chaotic Brookline, I nearly had a nervous breakdown, but found complete bliss on the Mass Pike: speed!

icicles

Record snow in MA means record icicles on a lot of houses. Even though I am thankful that we have none, I admit that I love seeing them everywhere. Some houses have them from the eaves all the way to the ground - stretching over two or even three stories. They look very magical.

music

This morning cousin Maya came by and entertained us with peaceful piano music. And this evening we enjoyed the Groove Devils playing fantastic live Blues. Joy of music!

heavenly child called wind

Windswept snowbanks hanging over the gable, glistening in the sunshine. The color in contrast to the deep blue of the after-the-storm sky and the organic free form in contrast to the geometry of our house. Amazing, I think.

lemons

One of the things I miss most about living in southern California is the lemon tree behind our house in Pasadena. It was a huge tree and full of big, juicy and very delicious lemons - probably about a hundred at any given time of the year. That's when I fell in love with lemons, old fashioned homemade lemonade and lemon bars. I remember a festival devoted to lemons in Santa Barbara. Lemons, what lovely fruit!

neon stars

Thank you Worcester Art Museum for putting these beautiful blue neon stars all around on the facade or your Classical Revival-style building. They make me happy every time I drive by. Since driving in Worcester and happiness are usually not heard in the same sentence, this is very special.

fire

A beautiful, but bittercold day today with windchills that gave us polar impressions. To me there was only one logical thing to do: make a fire, sit in front of it and don't go anywhere. And so I did. It was wonderful and warmed my body as well as my soul.

land ends here

It holds something very special for me, the point where the roads stops, where the land ends and literally falls into the ocean. I could swear there is something magical at these places, like Skagen, the northern tip of Denmark or Land's End in Cornwall, England. Yesterday I went to the snow covered northern tip of Plum Island for a walk on the snow covered beach and sure enough, magic in the (very cold) air!

expats

I feel blessed to not only know so many other Germans here in New England, but that they are fun to be with. It is wonderful to spend time with 'Germanican' expats as we all deal with similar cultural issues. And we seem to talk about candy every time we meet, that's kind of funny.

the silence of snow

Can you hear it? The silence of snow. It's oh so quiet - shh - shh.

glacial landscape

Looking out into the back yard, one could think we live on top of a glacier. It is rather beautiful with the sun reflecting on the harsh icy surface that is covering everything and rather amusing to watch the squirrels slip and slide. It is amazing to think two to three feet further downare my garden plots, the raspberry plants, the boxwood circle and the sandbox.

wool

Thank you sheep for giving us lovely wool to stay warm in the winter. I received my mid-weight base layers of 100% merino wool today and I have to say, staying warm is a very beautiful thing for sure.

Photo taken at Sturbridge village on Easter Sunday.

carcassone

The beauty of snow days is the gift of time and leisure to play great games like Carcassone. I am so incredibly grateful that my children love to play board games.

- 10°C

Probably the coldest day of the year so far today, but really, who cares if you have a frozen pond and friends to share sunshine and skates with. The secret is to keep moving!

winter sky

January and February have such striking sunsets with clear colors of deep blue with a rim of fire colors. The moment that lingers on the threshold between day and night, a last warm light at the end of a bitter cold day, just before darkness settles in. Maybe this moment is so special because it is fleeting and impossible to hold on to.

ice

Arctic temperatures and late party planning could not hold us back today! Here is to spontaneity via Facebook, woolen socks, my fire pit, smiling children and mulled wine! A happy Thank You! to all the wonderful friends that came to our Ice Party today, it was a blast.

oat cookies

As part of the prep work for the impending ice party tomorrow: a batch of oat-sunflower seed-pumpkin seed cookies with the short one and a batch of oat-Montmarcy cherries-walnut cookies with the tall one. It is plain awesome to have two big piles of yummy cookies sitting in the kitchen, making the house smell wonderful and adding to the excitement of knowing there is a fun day ahead.

tracks

It is quite hilarious when you try to move in snow that is almost 2 feet deep (close to 60cm for you metric folks), definitely not fast and efficient, but very amusing. It was a gorgeous day here in New England, with radiant blue skies over sparkling masses of snow.

nor'easter

Basically it looked like this all day. I love a good storm, so much more powerful than all of us, nothing we can control. I am told my grandfather used to say storms are frighteningly beautiful and they sure are, maybe it is the little element of danger coupled with the raw beauty that is so appealing. We had a great snow day, which also equates to slow day and slow is something our lives are short of. Thank you weather gods for this white gift!

anticipation of snow

So far it is calm and clear outside, but the snow storm is coming, the first snowflakes of many are on their way. Tomorrow shall be a day of cozy comfort, playing in the snow and just taking it easy by the fireplace. But first: a nice bath to get ready to sleep in!

sing

Today I connected my voice with about 2000 other voice/video tracks from Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir Project on the internet and sang 'Sleep'. It was not easy for me to do, I don't really like to expose myself that way and leave the security of a choir or orchestra. I decided that connecting my voice with those from all over the world is such a beautiful idea though, I threw my apprehension out the window and spend a day recording. I uploaded the video with minutes to spare. I was actually quite amusing, whenever I had it working well, the phone rang, a cat disturbed me or I started mixing up the words. I must have recorded it about 40 times.

sunshine sparkles

Oh what a beautiful morning, sleeping in and being woken by the sun shining through the window and onto my face. The first thing I see those mornings is the sparkle in the old glass insulators on the windowsill. Click on it to see it large and if you look at the top, you can see the a reverse picture of our woods in the snow. The world upside down encased in sparkles - I love Sunday mornings!

home sweet home

After a magical and beautiful Boar's Head Epiphany celebration, big family dinner and driving forever through a snow storm, it is so good to see the lights at home welcoming us back.

friends lined up

Decorations are slowly moving downstairs, Christmas is over, but I was hesitating to take the cards down that we got this year, it is so nice to walk by them all day and see all the happy faces and think of the senders. And then I got a mail that there is one more snail mail on the way to us and I decided to keep them up a little longer. The kids say they feel watched by all the people on the pictures and that the eyes follow them, kind of funny, isn't it?

twelve drummers drumming

Today is the 12th day of Christmas, also called Epiphany or Three Kings day. I like it very much indeed, the last day to celebrate Christmas, to consciously bathe in the atmosphere of lights and celebration for a last time. I am still waiting on the twelve drummers drumming though...

old places

This morning I was looking over the Nashoba brook in West Concord and the old walls on its side gave me such a sense of place and history. They made everything feel so old and I like that feeling of history, thinking about all the people that went before me, looking the same direction, sending their own thoughts, wishes and worries down the river.

No, the fantastic DSLR camera I got for Christmas does not take time travel shots, I wanted to try some different techniques in Photoshop to vintage the photo I took and this is the result. Click on it to look at a larger picture.

owl

This sweet owl was made for me by a good friend, she made this totally by hand and I absolutely love and appreciate it!

night cap

My late return home after rehearsals to a house that had Christmas lights on inside and out put me in such a festive mood, I had a glass of champagne for a night cap while enjoying the quiet calm.

foggy

On my way to a very lovely girls night out with friends, I passed this cemetery in Billerica and the layering of the snow, the fog and the trees in the back looked so interesting. I love fog, it is so calm and quiet. When crossing the Concord River, it was completely engulfed in fog.

lyla

Thank you you cute little chocolate lab with loyalty in your eyes and happiness in your wagging tail, you are very sweet.*

* and to think that for most of my life I thought myself to be cat person and then found that I am actually more of a dog person, how weird is that?