February Return

The children are sleeping. The fire crackles lazily in the fireplace. The dog sleeps fitfully by the door, waiting for Nikki to come home. Smoke rises gracefully from the briar as the snow swirls outside the window. Fernando Ortega serenades me from the computer as the wind bends the trees and their tops thrash the sky. A train whistle screams through this dark, cold, February night. I sit at my keyboard and take it all in. We're in the very heart of the long dark of an Illinois winter. Winter is traditionally a somewhat melancholy and introspective time for me. Perhaps that is what has prompted my return to Country Roads.

Last month was the anniversary of the passing of my grandmother, next week will be a time of remembrance for the passing of my grandfather. The dark mornings, dark evenings, gray fields, skies, roads and trees all begin to eventually take their toll. Winter can be a cold, bleak and windy affair on the prairies. This winter has brought its own unique worries, what with the poor economy and work climate... This post seems to be taking a decidedly dark turn. Apologies.

This has actually been a relatively good winter for us. The snow has been plentiful, I was able to spend hours trudging through the fields with my Remington on my shoulder - communing with God, the countryside, and hunting for pheasants. The children's new rooms are finally coming along nicely and I actually have some time for blogging. While work has been slow, I do have work. God has been good to us, for sure.

I could not possibly hope to catch up on family, cultural, and world events since I was last actively blogging. In the weeks and months ahead I will finish and post some of the myriad of half-finished drafts I have lurking in the archives, but for the most part I'll just be picking up and going on. I plan on focusing a bit more on homeschooling and family stuff, since the kids are getting older. This will be in addition to the usual political and social commentary, not to mention sports (pitchers and catchers report in 7 days!) and hobbies. I've missed Country Roads, while it's safe to say there's only a handful (at best) of folks that feel likewise, it's good to be back. As always, feel free to comment on anything. Your comment may not appear immediately as I had to take some precautions against spammers, but it will be read and posted.

This has taken way too long, (though I haven't really said anything) the fire has died down and I must head to bed, but first, a few words in remembrance of Grandma. This taken from my remarks last January:

Well, the Dunhill is naught but ash in the bowl and it's getting late. I shall wrap this up for now, but first, a few words in closing about my Grandma, my Mom's Mom, Doris Elson. It was the 6th year to the day since she passed away on Jan. 2nd. I shall write more about her and my Grandpa's lives in Feburary, so this will do for now. Grandma lived a long, often hard, often joyous, life here on the windswept prairies of Illinois as a farmer's wife. Her years included memories of the Great Depression, WWII, the births of 4 children, 12 grandchildren, at least one great-grandchild and countless rotations of the seasons on which a farmer's family depends. She had suspected that she had breast cancer for years before it became obvious enough that she had to bring it up. Her last months were charactarized by faith, peace, and confidence that her Lord would bring her home in His time. She passed away peacefully, in her own bed, surrounded by some of her family members, un-afraid, secure in the knowledge of God. She is missed.

~ Gabriel