illustration friday ~ winter

I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape - the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn't show. ~

Andrew Wyeth

Not sure if it the heart-racing exhilaration that comes from being in the middle of a blizzard or the mile long list of things that I need to do (two grant proposals due by Dec. 31st), but whatever it is, sleep eludes me. So when the cold nose nudged me at the break of dawn I was happy to oblige, and Scruffy and I went out into the white wonderland which Mother Nature has so beautifully produced. And it is a blizzard ~ winter tundra comes to mind. This storm has a major wind element which has created magnificent drifts and valleys which the hound and I happily crashed through.

Upon returning I made myself a large mug of hot chocolate, turned on Yo-Yo Ma and planned to tackle my grant proposals. But, of course I need to check my emails and in my typical productive procrastination mode I saw that this week’s Friday Illustration was “winter” ~ how appropriate. So before I disappeared into my proposals I wanted to post this illustration. It was done as an assignment: illustrate one of your favorite childhood memories and mine was the Chicago Blizzard of 1967. I would have been 3 yrs old and my brother was 1. The city had shut down! My parents had an impromptu party for all my father’s colleagues who were stranded in the city. The spontaneity about everything was so magical to me ~ there was excitement in the air. And sometime during the evening my father decided to take my brother and me out for a sled ride!! This was more than exciting! We were all bundled up and the three of us took to the darkening streets. Everything was white and quiet, and what was most amazing to me was that my dad was pulling the sled down the middle of the STREET!! As a toddler who had been told numerous times about the perils of being in the street ~ this was cool!! So we three traveled around the neighborhood, my brother snug in my lap, my father in control, leading us past townhouses with their warm cozy light spilling out onto the snow in front of us. This is one of my fondest childhood memories and I think it works with this week’s IF theme as well as the current Boston weather.

Now, no more procrastination, off to the proposals (or at least until the girls wake up and want to go sledding). Thank you Daddy for that amazing ride!!! peace to you and peace to all!!! xxx