My husband passed away peacefully last night. His last, long hike to the highest summit. I told him to hike on ahead & that I would catch up with him later. A good man who lived a full life of service to others.
Haven’t tweeted in a while—my husband is losing his battle with cancer and is in hospice, so we are a little preoccupied right now. But I can’t ignore the beauty of nature in the middle of grief.
@BomberryJames
He died of cancer, but he was able to die at home with me and our youngest son at his side when he passed away. He led a very full and fulfilling life—nearly 50 years with me. Lots of hikes!
Every time I step out the door into a beautiful winter day I feel close to my husband’s spirit—very calm. We went on so many great winter hikes together.
@KFILE
Why does GOP Rep. Norman imply that Juneteenth is only to placate Black citizens? Is he himself not glad that slavery in the US was ended? I’d say that Juneteenth is a day the *entire US* can heartily celebrate—“one giant leap for mankind.”
Did not expect to awaken to four inches of thick, wet snow, more coming down, but here we are. My husband is in the field tapping the apple tree branches to free them from the snow, so they don’t break.
@CurlyQ42
He was—not only happy and friendly, but kind, modest, hard-working and helpful. Generous, always thought of others first. There will never be a better man.
A pair of ravens flirting in the sky yesterday. They were back again today, but I didn’t get a photo of them. They seem to enjoy wind and cold air. Synchronized flying.
Before he died, my husband wished us to turn the room he spent his last days in into a guest room. My younger son and daughter have finished remodeling & painting the room. It looks pretty good!
@buggorlsteff
@sierra_falcon
This is all true. But if you are tested for COVID-19, you should presume a positive result and stay home, or take extra precautions by wearing a mask so as not to spread your spittle around, and staying 6 ft. away, until your test results come back.
Pretty wild weather out there. Little finches are at the feeder, clinging for dear life while they peck at seeds. Hard to guess how much snow we’ve had so far bc the snow has drifted so much.
This morning: reddish-brown dot visible thru a gap in trees on the left is a fox curled up in the sun near the cabin, sleeping on the snow. I took my daily snowshoe hike in the opposite direction so as not to disturb him/her. Picture credit: my son Karl.
Beautiful sunset this evening. Wind is from the north. A storm is situated just east of us, pushing inland & headed for Canada. We’re just on the edge.
Just received another card today from a couple in town, 7 weeks after my husband’s death. They wrote, “He was a talented craftsman, good man, community servant, and friend. He is missed. How fortunate for us that we knew him.” Yes.
Made one of my signature meals tonight: cheese soufflé, rice, home grown broccoli, and a salad. Glad to say my husband ate a full plate of food, and the only leftover was rice.
Sorting thru old pictures—my husband took this pic of me when we were hiking in Colorado years ago. In background: Mt. Sopris, which we summited in August 2009.
@nytimes
I hope so—my granddaughter has cystic fibrosis. She’s 3 and already her lungs are clouded. If she catches COVID she’ll probably die. I can’t let that happen. She’s my only granddaughter.
We received about 8 inches of snow last night & this morning—light & fluffy stuff, temps in the mid-teens. I have to attend a meeting this morning so am hoping our plow guy arrives soon.
Headed to Wentworth today to watch my granddaughter perform in a school play. Stopped in Franconia Notch & climbed Artist’s Bluff. Such a beautiful view looking south.
I could kick myself for putting those seeds out. The bear came back! “A fed bear is a dead bear.” I don’t want him to become accustomed to our house. When he leaves I’ll sweep the seeds off the porch.
After a day & a half of winter storm, a clear blue sky. We got 12” of new snow on top of the 8” we received a few days before. I’ll be outside today on my snowshoes!
On my afternoon walk today through the woods, I found quite a few lichens blown down from the tops of trees. I brought them home to put on my Christmas wreath.
@EllenKurz
Yes. My father-in-law fled Germany in 1938 because he was photographed at a protest against Hitler and was going to be arrested. The camo-clad folks in Portland reminded my husband of the “brown shirts,” Hitler’s thugs.
My granddaughter and I collected materials from around my property and made a Christmas wreath today. She selected the materials for each “bunch” on the wreath.
Yesterday I hiked up a small mountain in Bethlehem, Mt. Agassiz. Beautiful view looking S of some of the White Mountain peaks and Franconia Notch. A gorgeous day.
6:00 p.m. Still snowing! Periods of clearing and then another flurry arrives. Quite windy. My son has covered the blueberry bushes with sheets and tied them in place so they won’t blow away. Going to be very cold tonight in the 20s.
Our Christmas tree this year. We’ve had this grapefruit tree (which I raised from a seed) for years and sometimes decorate it for Christmas. It will be a quiet holiday for us with just our youngest son.
Wind and snow have returned this afternoon. Snow flying past the window horizontally for some minutes now. Our plow man will wait until the storm is done before clearing the driveway.
Today is our 47th wedding anniversary. We hiked Brousseau Mtn. in VT this morning, then came home and I baked my very first cheese cake ever. Our original wedding cake was decorated with raspberries & blueberries, so in remembrance I decorated this cake that way.
Only disagreeable incident on my hike: discovering litter at the mountaintop. There’s no trail, it’s very steep & you have to bushwhack. I’ve never found litter there before. Angry that some jerks dumped a beer can, lighter & water bottles. I packed them out.
A closer view. The owl has a great vantage point here. Mice scurry around under the deck for seeds that fall from the feeder. The owl caught at least one today.
To top it all off, my husband baked a cake as well! Pound layer cake, soaked in bourbon, layered with raspberry jam, slathered in whipped cream and topped with strawberries. We had this for dessert.
Our hike was beautiful, but it snowed all day, which was not in the plan. My son & I came back an hour early. It was still snowing. Here is snow in slo-mo for your viewing pleasure!
Sunset, just before 4 pm. Despite the beautiful snow, I find this time of year the hardest because of the shortened hours of daylight. Looking forward to January!