Tuesday, December 1, 2009

under a violet sky

Today, at about 2:45am it snowed. Sortof. It was more like a slightly whiter, slightly more crystallized rain, than snow. But, it was enough to get the woman at the checkout counter in the grocery store clapping her hands with excitement (seriously, clapping her hands?!) And then it was all over by about 3am.

But, it was after midnight.

And this has made all the local weather forecasters and climatologists, and morning radio people, almost giddy with excitement. Never, ever, ever since records began - and they began way back over 160 years ago - have we made it through this most dreary of months, this cold, sunless, usually wet month, November, with NO SNOW. Not a drop, nary a flake, nor even a flurry. In fact, for most of the month it was bright and warm and full of sunshine. And coloured leaves. Highly unusual, but most enjoyable.

There is now (at 6am) salt on the roads, though the skies are clear and the moon is shining brightly and the stars are fading... a storm is brewing...

For the past decade, I have been delivering papers and the first thing I do when I get up is look out at the sky. If I am going to be spending hours outside, I want to know what to expect. Is it clear, or foggy? Dark, or bright with snow? Is it a moonlit night? Are the stars shining?
Do I need to bag the newspapers, or can I get away with just an elastic band?
Can I spend the rest of the night daydreaming...? writing blog posts in my head?
Because that is when most of my posts get written.

In my mind, I can transform the sky from however it appears, to be beautiful, in a violet way. It can be a dark violet, or a pale violet. It can be a stormy evil violet, or an intense bright sunrise violet. No matter what is overhead, I imagine myself creating under a violet sky. When I see the stars, what few are on view, I get a renewed sense of awe. A lunar eclipse is magical. A sunrise is a reward.

There are some people in Ottawa who thought my blog name was vee-o-LET-ski. They were very wrong and have been set straight.

I am a Violet Sky.

Who is taking my coffee to bed to sleep off the morning. And wait for this "storm".
See how easy it is to change the sky view - get a medium cup and it is all brightly dark; get a large and we have the pale, dusty look.

This post was inspired in part by the lack of snow and in part by Ruth over at synch-ro-ni-zing who asked "how did you get your blog name"?

And in part by coffee.

31 comments:

  1. That was just perfect.

    And I just finished off my last Tim Horton's 12-grain bagel this morning, toasted and topped with cream cheese and orange marmalade. But, alas, I had no Tim's coffee to go with it. I love their Christmas cups. I must make a point of buying some this week. Maybe I'll wash them out and use them on the Christmas tree filled with holly or evergreen sprigs. I'm inspired.

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  2. Mr Jazz thought you were VioLETsky too at one time....

    As for me, the day I decided to start a blog the title that popped into my head was something like Random Life. And it sounded just wrong. So out came the synonym dictionary and Haphazard Life sounded just right. Cause all our lives are pretty much haphazard aren't they? Plus I just love that word.

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  3. I was fast asleep when the snow fell and was surprised to see it this morning! Just a dusting here too.

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  4. it's been fun to read all of these stories today.

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  5. What a lovely explanation. And, for the record, I wasn't the only one who heard it in their head as vee-OH-let-ski. And I still hear it in my head like that...

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  6. Very nice commentary. We've had a snowless November in Michigan also. I like the Tim Hortons cups - my favorite morning stop.

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  7. Susan: now that I've started really looking at these holiday cups, I could see a collection over the years as a tree ornament. I'm surprised Timmy's hasn't done that - or maybe they have...

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  8. Jazz: I've always liked your blog name, and I think 'haphazard' and 'jazz' are perfect together. too many people are random and meandering and musing, but haphazard has more of a jumping - frog-like- quality to it.

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  9. Stine: we didn't even get a dusting. truly, if you didn't see it in the street lamps, you'd barely recognize it.

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  10. Char: and some of the stories are so far from what I'd have thought... and yet enlightening.

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  11. XUP: but you were the first to admit it, and that is burned in my memory. to think I could have gone on forever without realizing I was seen as a different being...

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  12. Tony: these holiday cups are the best part of Timmys, they do brighten up the winter.

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  13. Snow! We're meant to be into our 2nd day of summer here but it is cold, wet and dismal. Maybe tomorrow....

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  14. I found you at Ruth's today, and came to visit.

    I love that you write posts while delivering papers in the morning - I varnish boats for a living, and do a lot of thinking on the docks. The outdoors seems to expand the mind, somehow.

    And we both look to the skies, to konw how to arrange our work. I love it - and I'll bet you're a good weather forecaster, too.

    This is the year I learned about the Belt of Venus - that deep blue band that appears with pink sky above - most often at sunrise. The blue is the earth's shadow. I love that we can see that, sometimes.

    Here's a giggle - they're saying we may have the earliest snow ever here in Houston on Friday. Isn't that funny? If it snows, I'll drink hot chocolate and read more of your blog - I think I'll like it!

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  15. Sagittarian: one can always hope for a better tomorrow!

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  16. Shoreacres: glad to have you here - and come back with hot chocolate whether it snows or not!

    I love the belt of venus - I have been known to stop work and grab my camera and head for a good viewing spot at the lake...

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  17. Hear, hear (here, here?), [raising coffee cup, but not Tim Horton's). I am on the "How did you name your blog" crawl. Interesting question with fun answers from everyone.

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  18. I like the stormy violet skies; I don't get to see too many of them.


    And oh, how I miss Tim Horton's. When I lived back in Ohio, I stopped there several times a week.

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  19. I guess because I'm a southerner, I would sometimes read it as VY-oh-let-ski. I loved this post, it was gorgeous like reading a good Joyce Carol Oates short story.

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  20. I must be very boring - I just read your name as violet (as in the colour) sky (as in that stuff up there!)

    But I bet you see more beautiful dawn skies than us day workers ever do!

    (Though when I was on an early shift in the winter, I did see some beautiful things!)

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  21. I like what Nathalie wrote, it's a how I named my blog crawl!

    So you see the world through violet colored glasses. I really like that. I hope you don't mind if I keep calling you Vio-let-skee after you told me that story. It's just too good. But I still think of you seeing the sky in shades of violet.

    Did you ever see the movie with Sidney Poitier called "A Warm November"? I think it was a TV movie, a romance about finding someone to fall in love with toward the end of life. Quite sweet it was.

    Thank you for participating, dear Sanna.

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  22. Oh, my bad, I think the movie title was "A Warm December," heheh.

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  23. Natalie: welcome. I'm on a slow crawl myself!

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  24. Ruth: must look that one up, don't remember it, but that doesn't mean I haven't seen it.

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  25. gee I'm glad Ruth nudged you to describe the name of your blog.. very enlightening

    The first thing I look at too...

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  26. AmyR: sorry, I got sidetracked...
    stormy skies are wonderful, so long as one is safe (I was going to say inside, but I am often outside photographing it!)

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  27. Gilly: you are not at all boring. actually, after I heard about the vee-o-let-ski thing, I changed the name slightly and separated the words in the blog title (because I couldn't figure out how to use upper and lower case).

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  28. Gwen: thanks. and you must get some amazing views of the stormy sky where you are!

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