I live downtown on the sixteenth floor of a mid-rise building. I have a south-facing wall and that wall has five windows: two of them are in my bedroom, the other three line up in the main room. I’m not surrounded by skyscrapers, thankfully, so from my perch, I can see Chicago for miles. Sometimes, I’ll bet you I can see clear to Indiana, all the way to those fruited plains. I don’t see the actual sun rise (being that I’m looking south and all) but of course I get the slowly strengthening light. I wake up quite early to catch this; it’s my favorite time of day. I make my tea, read one of the three things I have going, and write in my journal. I take from 90 minutes to two hours to do this every day, come rain, shine, or — wait for it — snow.
It’s been sifting down for hours. Every so often the white stops to catch its breath and then starts up again, and it was the same pattern a few days ago. It’s winter in the midwest.
The town I love is quiet. I look down on the street and no one is out. I look across the tops of the buildings and see white billows of steam from the heating systems working in overdrive because it’s not just snowing here: it’s cold. We’ll have temperatures back in the minuses the next few days and when it’s this bad, I think about the homeless people who will die this winter. Macabre, sure. Also true. Sometimes it’s hard to know what to do in the world.
To the couch. To the books. It’s Sunday and it’s a blizzard. I may have to venture down to the 7-Eleven for milk and chocolate later, but that’s later. For now, it’s time to hunker down and enjoy one of the many quilts I have made. I have quite a selection and I do believe they were made for this.
I’ll pick my favorite of all. It’s called “Whisper,” and it’s white.
Mary Ann
Just testing…lately I haven’t been able to comment, messages says I am not inputting right CAPTCHA code…ok, on e but several attempts in a row?
Mary Fons
Hm… Mary Ann, this isn’t the first I’ve heard of this. Grr! I will look into it. Those darned CAPTCHAs. Necessary evil, I’m afraid, but I’ll try to get the functionality a bit better. Thank you so much for commenting; I love it!
Mary Fons
Hey, all — someone asked to see a pic of “Whisper” so I posted a process shot on my Facebook page. It’s just the top, on my bed. More images to come soon from the book where this quilt is to be published, “Make + Love Quilts: Scrap Quilts for the 21st Century.”
Mary Ann
Ha, just like calling the cable folks…it works fine now! Enjoy your snow day. I was out on the road from Davenport IA to Chicago during that ’67 blizzard. Ended up in a ditch, picked up by some guys coming in from Lombard in big heavy car. Took the train back to school!
Karen Morrell Johnson
” Every so often the white stops to catch its breath and then starts up again”. I got goosebumps from this, Mary! So beautifully descriptive! Also, no snow here in the NW, but still cold enough to stay in and snuggle under a quilt.