April 8, 2012

Miss and Not Miss

On clear nights I can still see my buddy, Orion.  I have to look quick, though.  He sets with Venus, just now a dusk planet.  Both will soon be replaced by the Milky Way and Scorpio. 

As the seasons change, I miss a lot of what the winter offers.  There are also many things I don’t miss at all---the summer replacements are just fine by me.  In number, they’re pretty close to even.   I should point out, though, that things that I miss are generally more delightful to me than the ones that I won’t miss are onerous.  Winter is still my favorite season. 

In any case, here’s an abridged list of misses and not so much:

Miss:  Sledding.  There’s nothing like being on the runners watching the dogs do their thing as trees, snow, and sky wiz past.

Not Miss: Handling lines with various amounts of semi-frozen dogshit stuck to them.  There’s a dark side to this sport.

Miss: Fresh snow draping the fir and lodgepole after a storm.

Not Miss: Fresh snow draping my truck, particularly if it’s frozen to my windshield.

Miss:  Checking the temperature to see if it has dropped below zero.

Not Miss: Watching it rain and hoping it won’t wreak havoc with the snow on the trail.

Miss: Scooping the yard after a subzero night and seeing the dogshit pop free from the snow as I tap it with a shovel. 

Not Miss: Taking an hour to scoop the yard when it’s snowcovered compared to 15 minutes when it isn’t.

Miss: Skate skiing on the local groomed track.  Prior to this year I hadn’t skied the track since 2004.  This year, I hit it a bunch of times.  I should add that I have been x-c skiing every year, just not on the track. 

Not Miss: Walking on glare ice trying with imperfect success to keep from slipping and falling. 

Miss: Being able to scoop the yard by headlamp----the advantage of brown on white over brown on brown.

Not Miss: Scooping the yard by headlamp---with the snow it’s still a nuisance and takes even longer than doing it during the day.

Miss: Checking weather and grooming reports and planning on which days and trails to run on.

Not Miss: Wondering if I can get up my driveway. 

Miss: Stepping out and making tracks in fresh snow that fell overnight.

Not Miss: Clearing snow and ice from my four gates and 21 platforms.

Miss:  On a cold clear winter night watching smoke come out of my chimney as a gossamer silhouette illuminated by a full moon.

Not Miss: Dealing with all of the ash/dust from the wood stove---it gets everywhere.

Miss: Gonja

Not Miss: Everybody else, knock on wood.