It's snowing!

This marks twice in two years that it has snowed where we are. Last year it snowed in February, but we missed it - or, I should say, we drove through it on our way to Florida! We didn't see it lying on the ground at home, except in the newspaper photo that came out the following week. That's what it's like here, it snows so rarely, and the town is so small that snow, especially snow that sticks long enough to be photographed, makes headlines!

Happy New Year to everyone. I'm personally thrilled that the President has had three major successes in the lame duck Congress: the tax/unemployment insurance legislation. the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," and the New Start Treaty ratification. Quite a spectacular close to a dismal year!

So let's hope 2011 will continue on the upswing. The South is behind the curve in economic terms: things are about at their worst right now. But the rest of the country seems to be reviving a bit, so I'm hopeful that we'll follow suit come summer.

Have a wonderful holiday and a fine, productive, safe and healthy year ahead!

I put out a laundry line this summer. It reminds me of Italy, where we had a laundry line outside our house in the mountains above Umbertide, in Umbria, for six weeks in 1988. So long ago, and we always vowed we'd go back.

Our house here is like that house. Secluded. Like the writer's retreat we always wanted. Except we have to keep it up, of course. A big job.

But it's worth it. Every day brings something wonderful. I mean it.

The other day I was out on the deck that overlooks the stream. I looked up at a noise I heard below: a fawn standing on the rocks in the middle of the stream. His ears perked up when he saw me. We looked at each other for a moment or two. Then I said hello, which I immediately regretted because it frightened him away. He ran up the hill on the other side, into the woods. It made me laugh.

Today, after a rain last night, raindrops hanging on the laundry line to dry.

The laundry line makes me happy. I put out the sheets and towels. It saves energy because I'm not using the dryer. The sheets and towels blow in the wind when there is a wind, and dry in the sunshine. They smell like summer. We didn't have a laundry line when I was a child, but somehow it reminds me of my childhood. Just the 1950s, I suppose. So much simpler, we always think.

That's why we moved here. To simplify. It's taken us almost seven years, but I think we've done it. I love summer.

Several years ago, when Louis and I were driving west to Louisiana, cotton blew across the road like snow.

It almost never snows here, though two weeks ago, while we were away, neighbors reported six inches. Yesterday, it was coming down in large, lovely, fluffy flakes.

I said to Louis, If cotton fell from the sky, this is what it would look like. Enchanting.

Snow like cotton, cotton like snow.

The robins have arrived! They are swarming the holly tree. Spring - which feels far away if you pay attention to the wind and cold - is just around the corner. I can't wait!