The sunlight is beginning to lengthen, it is light until after five now, a few minutes at a time adds up, warming the southern walls of the house during the day. It is still low on the horizon though, skirting the trees and beaming through the windows. In my office the sun slants in and is fractured by the old glass doorknob on the closet and sent bouncing around the room. The old glass doorknobs were put in during one of the many reworks of this old house back in the 1920’s and what a wonderful whimsy they are. I wonder many generations have witnessed these same unexpected January rainbows. Despite their beauty, when we first moved in they had a tendency not to work, well, not if you weren’t used to them. We learned to grasp the whole knob, down to the base and turn, otherwise the glass knob would just spin. I have spent a great deal of time repairing doorknobs, with various degrees of success, I have just successfully managed to replace the side door doorknob with a old Victorian knob, and now it has given up it’s frustrating habit of pulling out of the door once every month or so. The first year we lived here Tory left one year old Zoe on the couch and ran down to the basement to gather firewood up to put on the fire, and was shocked when the doorknob came off as she the door shut behind her. She tried the outside cellar door but it was weighed down with several feet of snow. Luckily, with great care, she was able to re-attach the doorknob, and Zoe never knew she was gone.
Tory says the Taber social dynamic is centered around the weather – Mom and Dad and I ask first about the weather, then the conversation evolves from there. It must have a lot to do with growing up on the farm – if the weather is good, then you are good – if you are surviving the weather, then you are surviving. My moods are directly related to the weather. Two hot and I get grumpy – too cold and I am anxious. There are night when I step outside, hear the crack of the porch boards echo through the cold air and look up into the sky and think “what would happen if I got locked out here?” The porch only cracks when it’s really cold, like 10 below. Last night when I went to bed the thermometer read 15 below. The cold water pipe froze in the kitchen crawl space. When it gets that cold the house starts to feel it, the cold creeps in through little cracks and living room becomes the “LIVING” room, the girls play a lot near the woodstove and we spend a time each night now cuddled up together reading “Midnight for Charlie Bone”, Zoe and Tory winding fairies. Today the temps reached into the teens and we spent a nice time sledding on Fox Hill with friends. Winter is not so bad when you embrace it.
Well, despite our long stretch of warm winter weather – the cold has finally come, and so has the snow. As if timed to coincide with the event, both of our old cars started acting up – the Escort needed a new axle and bearing, the Subaru, has just had it. And so we have decided to invest some money that we have made on some recent illlsutration jobs on a newer vehicle. I wanted a corolla or Camry and Tory wanted a RAV4 or Honda CRV. We have compromised and are getting a RAV4 – actually one is sitting in our driveway right now, but things aren’t squared away with that yet, so I’ll tell that story another time. Nothing troubles me more than car problems – it seems a commentary on my ability to father – I should at least be able to keep our cars going. But modern cars are not what they use to be – I used to have a Corolla that I loved, I bought it in college, it went to Utah, New York, Georgia, Oklahoma, and eventually back to New York before I had to finally give it up with over 200,000 miles on it. I was able to do a lot on that car, change the brakes, plugs, oil, fuel filter – everything. But modern cars have these weird sensors – who needs that? Who even understands them? Ah, well. We kiss some money goodbye, hope the best for our new vehicle.
We thought this disk was dead - but the pictures were recovered.
07/01:
This cabinet was slated for a sledgehammer and then the dump. A good friend that is a post office manger up here knew we liked old oak furniture and let us know this card catalogue and filing cabinet was available. It had languished in the basement of a post office in the adirondacks for many years, until it made our way to us. We have re-painted my office, with the intention of using it as our main studio. The drawers have made wonderful homes for paint, brushes, paper, inks, etc. It comes apart in nine seperate sections and is made of heavy oak.
Thats what they are calling it around here anyway. Yes, we have seen a little snow, but not much, and it has melted away quickly. We have seen winters here - when these first weeks of January temperatures never rose above zero - for weeks at a time. Yesterday the temperatures soared to 61, breaking the old record for the day by ten degrees. Despite the dark cloud of global warming looming over our heads, the warm day and streaming sun tempted us outside, and we went for a hike at cumberland head state park on the lake. The was green, the birds were singing, and there was not a bit of ice in the lake that seperates NY from Vermont. The lake usually freezes hard and straight across - granite blocks were pulled from some of the island across the ice to build homes here in Chazy and Plattsburgh. I was talking to our mechanic, and older man who grew up near here, his grandmother was an Iroqois, who practiced a lot of natural remedies and she had a saying "a green winter means a full cemetery" - claiming the cold weather was good for killing germs - take your vitamin "c" everyone. Meanwhile the girls are conviced spring is here, and a ready to start planting. Things aren't looking good for the ski slopes or the Saranac Lake Ice palace, due to open up Feb 2nd.
07/01:
07/01:
Well. it was a very busy series of weeks, and we could find little time to do anything other than paint. We were going to bed around 1:00 am and waking at 7:00. It left us little time to do much else. But we took two days of at Christmas eve and Christmas. and we finally sent the work off on the 28th, leaving new years a true celebration. On the last day of school for the girls I woke, after a late night and went out the back door to walk Bodoni. But I noticed that our car was not in the driveway, I checked to see if Tory had parked it at the neighbors, and it wasn't there either. I got worried, went back in to the house and told Tory our car was gone. Why would someone steal a Ford Escort? Tory asked. I really didn't have a good answer, but it was gone. we scarmbled, called the neighbors to borrow their car, and then called the police to report our car stolen. I then left the house, and made my way to the neighbors around the corner, only to discover our car parked at the corner store. Long story short - I usually wlak tot he corner store to get anything, but had driven the car the day before, and then, absentmindedly walked home. I called the neighbors and drove Lizzie to school - Tory got stuck with calling the police back. We are happy to be getting a little more sleep.
