Writing is like being able to put life into a snow globe. It takes the things that are too big and scary and reduces them into a form that I can put away when I want and look at from a distance. It also takes all that’s good in life and captures it into something I can take out when I want and look at close up and keep forever. It makes the bad things into something I can hold…and the good things into something I can hold onto. Both help so much that I need that little souvenir of life.

Monday, January 6, 2014

Cold and Colderer (and Word Meme)


If you are here for “Succinctly Yours,” please skip to below the quote, and thank you for visiting!


So far we’ve weathered (get it?) stuck cars, frozen locks and lots of shoveling. Still, that sci-fi-sounding polar vortex aside, I don’t really despise winter. I’m just superstitious enough that I feel like I must whisper this, however, lest some wicked winter warlock decides to make me regret admitting it.

Today was the day we were supposed to head back to school, but I do usually wish I had just one more day off. And in many ways, the experience brought back my youth in Nebraska.

The difference is that now I have no problem dressing for the cold, whereas when I was young, I was more concerned with unflatteringly puffy coats and ugly hats. Today when I emerged from the bathroom in my snow shoveling gear, the cat ran for his life, clearly fearing I’d morphed into the Abominable Snowmom. Even after treats and reassurances, he hugged the walls and cast wide, wary eyes at me. It was funny until I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and realized I looked like a Monsters, Inc. creature. I swished when I walked and had hair that sprouted out of the top of my ear warmers like a freakishly huge pea hen.

Shoveling didn’t improve the hairdo any—and this from someone who regularly plays the “Which Male Lord of the Rings Character Does My Hair Now Resemble” game (hint: it’s never Legolas, and when it’s Aragorn, it’s always that end-of-war do when it’s clear he hasn’t washed it in at least six Orc battles…only way, WAY less sexy on me).

Now that the shoveling is accomplished, snow (and my hair) aren’t so bad again. This storm produced a sparkling white magic that so silently whipped up a new landscape, submerging scenery so that benches were buried and swing set seats were erased, whited out, their chains seemingly anchored to nothing.

For some of us, living in the tropics would be like eating nothing but chocolate all the time. Sounds heavenly until you get a hankering for chicken or even Aunt Roberta’s string beans.

So for now, anyway, at least while I sit here with leftover Christmas treats and the premiere of Downton Abbey on DVR, I’m okay being snowed in. Happy 2014.

In the long run the pessimist may be proved right, but the optimist has a better time on the trip. ~Daniel L. Reardon


Thanks to the extra time our snowstorm has given me, this week I’ve decided to try participating in “Succinctly Yours” over at Grandma’sGoulash. The idea of this meme is to use the photo as inspiration for a story of 140 characters or 140 words (or fewer). Mine is 133 characters, not counting spaces, and the bonus word was "theory."



Gary, ever the perfectionist, had a theory about how Elvis impersonation should be done. When he played “You Ain’t Nothin’ But a Hound dog,” he got a bit literal. 

24 comments:

  1. Tammy--That third-to-last paragraph that ends with "their chains seemingly anchored to nothing" is HFFF brilliant.

    How do you do it?

    Ummm. Aragorn...

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    1. Thank you, Sioux! I know. Aragorn.... Who else on earth could go around with greasy strings for hair and still look so that good?!

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  2. Looks like you may get another day off, too. Hope you enjoy it, Tammy!

    Pat
    Critter Alley

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  3. That's an impressive array of perfect-murder weapons.

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    1. Thanks. That was from another snow last week. This one is too cold for icicles.

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  4. Cute SY story, Tammy! Gary's perfectionism will carry him far in the world of impersonations.

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  5. Hari OM
    Hello Tammy and happy 2014 to you. Thank you for dropping by my place - I am new to Succinctly Yours and it meets a challenge I love setting myself anyway - totally love your offering here!! Also admired your piece on the after-storm. (Shhh, I'll whisper it too, having spent a significant amount of my life in the tropics I can tell you, true seasons are a welcome sight!) Have a great week. YAM xx

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    1. Thank you so much for your kind words, Yamini, and for stopping by!

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  6. I laughed about the cat. Laughed about the dog. Gasped in awe at the description of the sparkling white magic. Your words are magical! Write on.

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  7. Gary did a good rendition of the Elvis song, I am sure, Tammy.
    Welcome to Succinctly Yours. I wasn't in at the start but have been for a long time. It is an easy post and the participants are great.

    BTW, I grew up about 35 miles north of Omaha in the Hills outside Herman, NE. I was born in and lived in a four room farmhouse until I left home for the U of N (Lincoln). The new owners tore the old house down a couple of years ago.
    ..

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    1. Thanks, Jim. I'm just glad Gary wasn't hoarse! What a small world. I'm from Omaha and went to the U of N. I'm so sorry your old house was torn down. Thank you for stopping by!

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  8. Now you have some real snow! Here we have an inch and it's the end of the world

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  9. This is real all right - schools are closed for the third day in a row because it's too cold to remove it from the streets properly. Thank for stopping by, John!

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  10. Loved this post, as always, Tammy, especially that lovely, lyrical description of "sparkling white magic." Beautiful writing. And the SY story was cute!

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  11. Loved the post and your short mime... you are something!

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  12. Hi Tammy, you had me laughing about the cat! I can't imagine how cold it must have been for you guys. We had that -33* but it was sunny outside with no wind. Today it is snowing with some wind, but not very cold. I just wanted to stop by and say hi, and to wish you a Happy New Year!

    Hugs,
    Kathy M.

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    1. I'm so glad you did stop by, Kathy, and Happy New Year to you, too! I can't imagine -33*, though! I vaguely remember once in Nebraska when it felt like it froze your nostrils and sucked the breath right out of you. Stay warm!!

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  13. I could have sworn that was a dog! Gary has certainly perfected his impression. :D

    Thanks for playing and for an awesome entry.

    I'm with you on the snow gear. When our furnace died during the subzero temps, we were dressed like that inside.

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  14. Thank you so much for the meme, but I was humbled when I read your incredibly clever responses!

    Your furnace experience makes me shiver from the horror alone. Hope that furnace is fixed and you are toasty warm again!

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