Holiday Countdown - Day Ten - December 6

Another case of pushing back the activity to the next day. Both boys have a cold and have been miserable to motivate all week, so I didn't much try. Actually, come to think of it, they've been pretty all around miserable. And complaining loudly about it. It's been shloads of fun. No, really.So we did this on December 7th. I brought hand clippers to get nice pods and branches and things and a basket. As with everything we do, this was late in the day and we had to hurry. I also had to run to the food co-op and pick up my sewing machine from the repair shop and accomplish seventy thousand other things to keep up house and hearth and the endless, frantic pursuit of ideal holidays. Or something.

Whilst I clipped pine needles, Aleks stared intently at the railing. We were getting some of the first vaguely-real snow of the season, and the very coldness made the flakes large and dry. Turns out he was observing their crystalline perfection.
It's a neat thing to really see the intricate patterns for the first time. I remember doing so as a child.
One wonders how Bastian can possibly see from beneath the cover of his eggplant hat.






Just after that last photo, but 15 or 20 minutes into the excursion, Aleks tried to walk on the ice and fell into the marsh and had to be driven home to warm up again. I think between what's already in our nature tray and what we gathered, I think we'll have enough to attempt the elven nature-bits.