First Snowfall For Lovers 6

 

First Snowfall For Lovers 6

The next day our neighbors Laura and Willy came over. She with a happy hello and a pan of brownies.

Willy complaining about the snowplow berms in front of his driveway. We had one but quickly cleared it before it turned to a giant ice cube.

My Lover told him Your day seems the worst ever but tomorrow will be better because life goes on. A person's limit can be a silly thing that will set off the final blow.

A piece of burned toast, noisy people or even a dog ripping up your new flowerbed. It can be anything that sets off the final limit. Tomorrow will bring a new life. Yesterday is gone smile and wave it goodbye. You won't miss what did not happened because it was not to be. Open your mind and your heart, become free. Each and every day is your second chance. Toss away the old sorrows or best yet give it to your greatest enemies with your heart open as a gift. You will never know how you made them feel.

Willy went off complaining about lectures.

Laura looked at me saying Ha ha ha ha ha you shut him up. That is so rich!!!

Laura said a lot of people are “peaches” , warm and fuzzy on the outside, but stony and hard on the inside. My Willy is a “coconut.” His hard exterior is tough to crack, but once you do, you’ve got a friend for life. We both agree and thank her for the brownies.

I told my Lover Laura has love and patience.

He smiled and quoted: Love makes your soul crawl out from it's hiding place. From Zora Neale Hurston.

Kimmie and Fritz's vehicle was fixed so they went home the next day. the roads were cleaned off.

It was quiet in our home. The animals are fed and sheltered. All guests have left. My lover is reading, and I am practicing my belly dancing moves to help strengthened the stomach muscles and serve as a form of self-hypnosis. There has been a lot of stress going on because of the blizzard and unexpected guests. Belly dancing was originally done by women for women to show the undulating belly as it resembles a woman giving birth.

I am almost in a trance when my Lover looks up and smiles. It gives him so much pleasure to see me happy and dancing without stress.

After an hour of practice, I am tiring. He sees me slowing down. He rises and goes to the kitchen to put the kettle of water on the stove. The house is warm now because the electricity has come on. The hot water heater has not filled yet. He removes my sweaty costume. With a warm pan of water from the stove he bathes me oh so tenderly. Quickly toweling me as he rinses me. A warm robe covers my body. He gently washes my hair in a basin and rinses.

By now I am very relaxed. A warm cup of chamomile tea and I am covered with a warm blanket and taken off to the warm bedroom.

An hour later after wonderful passionate love making, we both fell into a deep sleep. We woke up five hours later famished. We both dressed in warm clothes and shoes.

My lover went out to tend the animals while I stoked the wood stove and the fireplace. For dinner I made bacon, eggs and waffles with real maple syrup.

There were a few phone calls asking how we were. Fritz called and said “I hope to see both of you at the winter festival under the big tent next week, dancing, sampling honey, visiting the videos of the beehives, tasting the local cooking and savoring life. You two certainly do enjoy life.” Then we both selected a book to read while we both sat together on the sofa in front of the fire.

© Julia A Knaake

First Snowfall For Lovers 5

 

First Snowfall For Lovers 5

A man of Spanish descent carrying a tiny woman appeared on the porch. We ladies immediately had them enter the house to warm up. Fritz told us the gentleman's truck broke down and he had carried his Mother about a quarter mile. The gentleman spoke English and Spanish but his Mother only Spanish. My Spanish was a bit broken and the few words I knew were a bit rusty. The gentleman told his Mama to stay with us two ladies and be safe and warm.

Kimmie and I sized her up and gave her a warm sweater and hat plus some tiny slippers. A warm cup of coffee and piece of toast with Apricot jam to warm her up.

We learned her name was Mercedes. She sat by the fireplace and watched us sort through boxes of clothes. We had a pile of tissue paper in assorted colors piled in a box. The box also had some pipe cleaners and other odds and ends.

Soon she said
¿Puedo tener el papel de seda?

“ May I have the tissue paper?”

I replied of course you may have the tissue paper. We left Mercedes sitting near the fire happily sorting through the box.

Kimmie and I had finished unpacking and sorting a few more boxes. We decided to stop for coffee and me to stir the soup if needed. We were delighted to see Mercedes sitting at the table with a large pile of assorted colorful paper flowers.

I had Kimmie tend to the soup, and I went out onto the back porch to get my summer flower vases out of the cupboard.

The flowers were beautifully made and Mercedes showed us how to make them. Kimmie was fascinated and thought she could not make these flowers.

I told her to remember anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.

Someone dear to me told me a long time ago: every path has a few puddles that must be walked around or waded through.

You get your feet wet but the best way to get the most out of life is to look upon it as a grand adventure.

My Lover, Fritz and the three men came inside to warm up and have coffee. I had just made a large pan of jalapeno corn bread to go with mugs of soup.

While everyone was eating and warming up my Lover turned on some polka music and danced with me and twirled me out to the porch. Stopping he told me I was the best thing that had ever happened in his life. We embraced and held each other closely out there in that cool crisp air.

We are very fortunate and ever so thankful we have so many in our lives.

Friends are to be gathered into a bouquet and held close to your heart.

© Julia A Knaake

First Snowfall For Lovers 4

 

First Snowfall For Lovers 4

“ You are up and opening boxes already. Where do you get your energy? We do not have our Christmas tree up. You are bringing out boxes of decorations already. Why do you have a bowl full of leaves on the table?

“ Oh ma chère dame the leaves are there because they are so beautiful. Many shades of brown, yellow an bits of red.

We do not need a reason to cheer up our home. Everyone can find things of beauty every day in the smallest thoughts. Live every moment and love every moment. What was behind us and what is in the future are small matters compared to what becomes the real future within us. The unknown can be very exciting or very stressful. It is what it is. ”

My Lover and Fritz were out on the back porch having a smoke. They had just finished tending the animals. I had coffee brewing on the old cook stove. Kimmie bundled up and took them out a cup of well received coffee. She told them I had hotcakes, eggs and bacon for breakfast along with heated pure Maple syrup.

My lover blew me a kiss and reminded me of the chicken trick using water  and  a drop of olive oil.   He said he might try it with the goats to see if it worked for  keeping their water from freezing also.

After breakfast the two men planned to fire up the snowmobiles and go down the road to see what shape the car was in. Perhaps the police report shed light on a towing possibly to our place for safekeeping.

Kimmie and I decide o go make ourselves useful by sorting through the other boxes of women's clothes. Everything was going well until we found a box of really outdated clothes from the 20s and 30s. Not too many people would want these to wear everyday.  Kimmie suggested we go through the clothes that might be used for local actors or school plays. I went into the kitchen to stoke the wood stove, attending to my big pot of venison soup and check the fireplace.

I was detained looking out the window at deer and to my amazement a bald eagle flew over our snow-covered pasture. I came back into the room where Kimmie was and I saw her with a blue velvet dress she was there dancing so beautifully dancing with her soul.

The men returned home with two other men. They had hauled Fritz's car on the back of a small flatbed. The other men were welcomed to warm up and have a warm bite of soup and cornbread.

One of the men said something in private to my lover. He smiled then looked at the man very seriously and said:

For one to know what love you is must first know what it is not.

He looked a bit bewildered until my lover quietly explained the deep and true meaning. The man said he was going to return home with a lot more respect for his dear wife.

© Julia A Knaake