the view towards our cabin
The quietest new year's eve. Not that my new year's eves were ever so wild. Although I have a few memorable ones tucked in here and there. Like the year that I and A. went to the Young Communist League party...turns out Young Communists are just like everyone else, but with cheaper champagne.
Hedgehog and I rang in 2010 in a hotel room in the Adirondacks--our camp isn't winterized, and it's all snowed in now, so although we drove in and Hedgehog rolled around and made snow angels, I just couldn't face roughing it at night. I really like being warm, and I like hot running water...
Still, the lake looked beautiful in all that intensity of white, with the towering pines against an ominous sky. Very very grand.
And we spent a companionable hour or two next door at my mother's cabin, which, although lacking central heating, is through sheer industry and planning and foresight quite snug for winter. My stepdad is a consummate woodsman, and, along with Sarge, the one I most want on my side in the post-apocalyptic wilderness...Hedgehog warmed up in the armchair by the woodstove, while her red mittens dried cozily on their spokes. Engrossed in the Green Fairy Book, crunching pretzels, she hardly seemed to notice the sudden wind rushing against the side of the cabin.
bare branches against the snow
my mom's lion with a snow crown
mom's woodpile
the wood that got away
woodpile in use--mom heats with a wood stove
ubiquitous snow-covered pine cone
our Adirondack chairs, scene of many a long hot summer afternoon
I know I'm so very Brooklyn, but part of my soul lives here in the pinetops...
36 comments:
Sounds a grand way of seeing in the new year, snug and cosy in the midst of a snowy extravaganza. I remember all the Lang Fairy Books from decades back. Good that they're entertaining yet another generation....
You have no idea how envious I am! I LOVE the Adirondacks! Spent many a days on the slopes of Gore Mountain and Whiteface. Walked up Mt Marcy!
One of my favorite places that I have ever been is Lake Placid!
Leah, that's so beautiful. It looks wonderful and I can smell the wood smoke. I love every bit of your blog!
Oh, yes. You really can't ring in a new year without hot water.
The camp looks lovely. What great memories for Hedgehog.
Wishing you well in 2010.
The pictures look glorious. I once attended a Young Communist League summer camp but there was no champagne on offer - which rather detracted from the occasion I fear. Happy 2010 to you, your family and your friends.
Thanks for the pictures, reminding me all I'm missing living down South. You sound like you're having a wonderful time!
I can smell the fresh air from here!
All cosied up by a wood fire, with the wind blowing outside and the snow-covered landscape. What a wonderful start to 2010. Happy New Year to you and yours.
what a wonderful getaway! it looks gorgeous...sounds like a great strat to the new year!
It looks so very different in the snow. I never thought of having to 'winterise' your cabins but I guess it needs to be done to deal with the chill. Lovely photos. Love your 'artsy' snowman too! Haha . . cheaper champagne! Excellent.
Nick: isn't it nice that they're still reading those fairy books? Hedgehog absolutely loves them, and we keep turning up more and more from my childhood.
Otin: Hedgehog is the fourth generation of Weatherinthestreets girls at our cabin in the Adirondacks! We're about 20 miles from Gore Mountain, close to Lake George. It really is indescribably wild and beautiful up here.
Tina: I love that smell of wood smoke! It's quite tenacious, too--gets in one's hair and clothes, but in a nice comfortable way. And the smell of wood smoke against the snow is wonderful.
Hunter: yes, hot water is an absolute must, pretty much at all times. Your new avatar is great! You're adorable.
Alan: I would be quite quite interested to hear about your YCL camp experiences...
Skip: you're welcome, sir! Then again, living in the North we miss out on a certain temperate-ness that is delightful...
MJ: It is really super-fresh!
Martin: it was very nice, I have no complaints. So different from Brooklyn, in a good way.
Brian: being up here in the woods and clearing my head always gives me fresh perspective and makes me feel squeaky clean! By the way, you asked a couple of posts ago--my fast is working out brilliantly, with a short break for the holidays. It's made such a difference to me, both financially and emotionally.
Baino: it's true, if a house isn't winterized, one can't heat centrally and run one's water through the pipes, or they'll freeze and burst. It's a whole fooferaw. And isn't the snowman funny? Hedgie made him--he's very small because she couldn't manage bigger snowballs.
:)
Happy New Year, Leah.
Gosh, I love snow. You got some wonderful pics. And I'm especially nutty about those woolly hand knit knee socks!! I want some!! :D
wow! what a grand vacation. But chilly, brrrr.
What lovely photos. I did NOT have a quiet new year's eve. :)
Thanks for sharing so many candid photos of your life and your family. I just love wood heat. Up here in upper northern California, we used it solely until about a dozen years ago. Nice to way to usher in the new decade.
mago: thanks sweetie pie, and you too.
willow: I love snow too! Especially the floaty glittering drifty kind that we're having up here. And I've found a pattern for those socks, and am planning to knit them up soon--will post pictures!
Tom: so chilly! And snowing to beat the band!
Megan: gunfire, right? oy vey.
Ronda: I love wood heat! It was a nice new year's eve, very very much so.
Gorgeous, Leah! I wish our winters were like yours.... mild! Just cold enough for the snow to stick around but not -36C, like it is here...
Wood smoke, fresh air, jolly little snow men.... very much the atmosphere in which to chill... and I don't mean get cold!
Happy New Year!
Ponita: it is really gorgeous! But not that mild... December isn't so bad, but January-February, the north country goes down way below 0 F (as low as 30 and 40 below at times)...it gets really bitter. That's when it's not as much fun to tumble around in the snow...
happy new year to you to!
Isn't it great to have a bolthole and such a terrific contrast to everyday life. I miss ours so much but we remind ourselves we sure used it when we could - months at a time. Now - through you - I shall enjoy it vicariously.
Respect to Mum:)
Lovely, lovely start to the year. Cheers!
***SIGH*** I could really, really, really, really use a place like this about now...wonderful way to ring in the new and forget about the old :)
Stunning! Minus six tonight in Southampton. It was bad enough last night - thought my Jacobs were going to fall off.
Beautiful!
I have a place in the mountains out here (at 11,600') which I am going to have to sell, but it is also a gorgeous place for the holidays. It does have central heat and running water or it would be unbearably cold much of the year.
Happy New Year!
Beautiful pictures hen, and this line made me laugh, "turns out Young Communists are just like everyone else, but with cheaper champagne."
Superb.
Have to say I'm with Jimmy on the appreciation re: young communists and cheap champagne. :-) Great line!
Pearl
Lovely, lovely pics :)
Wood-burining stoves are the best! I fantasise about surviving in a post-apocalyptic wilderness- do you?
Wow! What a wonderful winter wonderland!! Wicked!
Hedgie looks so happy in the snow!
What great pictures and a great place to spend the holiday. Thanks for sharing. Sounds like everyone had a wonderful time. Happy New Year!!! And it is good to know the Young Communists are just like the rest of us.
nice post. thanks.
How did I miss this???
It's beautiful. It makes me homesick. In our house in upstate NY, we had a wood burning stove. Boy did that thing ever generate some heat!! I loved it. I'd get out of the tub and then sit by the stove and my hair would dry in MINUTES.
It was great.
I love Hedgie's snow fairy. Beautiful.
Pat: I never heard the expression bolthole! I had to look it up. It is the perfect word for our lake camp. Really.
Girl from L: happy new year!
subby: it's great, I must admit, to have a place to escape to...escapism isn't all bad...
EM: more new slang for me! "jacobs" is going into my lexicon. I can't wait to try it out on Sarge.
Mike: happy new year! central heating and running water is a distant dream for our cabin, but a dream nonetheless...
Jimmy: The champagne really was crap. The boys were cute, though a tad ideological... Happy new year!
Pearl: thanks! and happy new year to you too--
Cinnamon: I love to fantasize about post-apocalypse survival. We sit around discussing it at home...although there is some argument about who we would like to have at our encampment!
map: Hedgie really was happy. She doesn't get to play in snow that often...
Mr. Shife: happy new year to you and the Mrs and the baby!
Anonymous: who is that behind the anonymous? Inquiring minds...
Karen: My mom's stove is really beautiful, too. Dark red finish, and a little metal hearth cricket on top!
Really nice pictures!
ah thats such a cute snow person!
(cute daughter too)
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