'A Cold Coming We Had of It...

So begins T.S. Eliot's poem, "The Journey of the Magi."

"...For a journey, and such a journey."

Ruth's Ridge is now swaddled in snow, blanketed for another season of hiatus and rejuvenation. Rebus is at rest in the treeline, the freshly-laid sod is hibernating under the snow around the house. I'm reminded of a poem I wrote many years ago:

Snow blesses the earth;
the silent period.
A white driven
quietude,
the laying on of hands.

Not quite haiku, not quite famous, but apropos of this time and place.

Tomorrow is Advent Sunday, the first day in the Christian church calendar. The choir in which Ruth & I sing, All Saints' Anglican, will perform its 58th consecutive Advent Procession with Carols tomorrow. Some pieces are quiet and blessed; others, like Tavener's "God is With Us," declamatory and majestically overpowering.

Home, home on the ridge, where no deer and no antelope play, I've been leafing through thousands of receipts in order to work up the numbers for our GST (federal sales tax) refund. Of the more than $17,000 in tax we paid, the government has seen fit to refund approximately $5,700, but it requires hours of tedium.

As part of that effort, I've begun sorting through all the other paper this project has generated – schematics, installation guides, manuals, etc. – and have begun filing them away. Next step, profile the new computer and get some photo printing done so that I can get back to the tradition of giving my visual memories as gifts at Christmas.

The installation of casings and baseboards will continue on Monday, punctuated by some online Christmas shopping; another activity I missed last year.