My face is tingling and my fingers which have been throbbing because I kept them long enough outside the pockets to click a few images of the Hudson, frozen in parts, is thawing and humming alongside. I am still shivering though my nose is telling me that it is relieved to be back inside again, breathing the warm cosiness that is home.
I have been feeling strangely out of sorts for some time now. Ennui sounds immeasurably better than it feels. Who knows why I have been feeling this way but I shall tell you now that the icy winds by the Hudson whip them right out of the body. Everything just comes together out there, you know. The race tracks which are empty but for the gaggle of geese collecting at one end as if priming themselves up for a race, the old man in his signature yellow sweatshirt who inspires me with his tenacity to run outside in the bitter cold, the slabs of ice on the Hudson, the boulders all iced up that glisten in the soft-as-feather rays of the afternoon sun, the stray branches coated with icicles that sitting upon the boulders, the skein of ducks who bury their necks deep into their plump bodies so that you just see orbs of brown and white bobbing upon the waves, spiky hundreds of brown sweet gum balls gathering by the sides of the trails running through the park. Every bit counts.
A very poetic description. Gorgeous photos. As someone who lives on the sub tropics, those photos are sublime!
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Thank you my Aussie friend. It does me good to hear these words. xx
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Keep up the good work
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Cheers
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Ineke and I are starting up a Poetry challenge next month. Maybe you would like to join in?
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I have never composed a poem but I will have a think. Thank you for the thought, it is much appreciated 🙂 x
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Ineke from Iscrap2 (Scrapydo) blog and I are starting up a Poetry challenge next month. Maybe you would like to join in?
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there’s something about sunlight photos this time of year. the sunlight seems so yellow and distant now.
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It is, isn’t it? Like an ethereal presence in our lives.
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I can imagine how cold it must be ! wonderful to see the pictures of Hudson frozen in parts
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It is Nisha especially since I had not expected it to be frozen even in bits. Hope your weekend is going good. xx
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yes! going well rainy so staying indoors
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Perfect 🙂 Netflix, popcorn and cocoa… xx
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superbowl Sunday as well 🙂
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Oh I hope the feeling of ennui passes quickly!
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Thanks my sweet. xx
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I could feel the cold. I don’t do too well in cold weather. It makes me stay indoors because I don’t like the chills. Thank you for the photos and thank you for letting your fingers freeze to take the shots!
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I like long walks in the cold 🙂 The tingle everywhere as the body thaw later and I treat it to a hot drink. Thank you Miriam, we have got to after make the most of every season. xx
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Yes, it’s true. I should let the cold stop me from doing things such as walking in the cold. Once I get going, I usually feel okay and I should remember that! 🙂 xox
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Cheers 🙂 xx
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🙂 🙂
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Such lovely pictures ❤ would you mind looking at my blog we might share a few interests
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Thank you. I shall pop by yours surely.
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Oh DD … ennui is such a deceptive mistress – her name so close to esprit that one might be forgiven for stepping close to her and when we do she descends like a dark muffler and is the very devil to cast off. The cold where you now live has to be experienced to be believed. I spent the winters (remember I’m a snowbird) in New England literally gasping for relief, psyching myself for forays out of doors and wondering if the locals were actually in any way related to me as a human. And then out of nowhere comes the briefest Spring which in turn gives way to melting heat. And I’m about to do it all again …. save me some hot choc and pastry and I’ll bring you warm hugs from the Alps which is frankly balmy in comparison xx
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I don’t know how anyone in New England lives. I can excuse the first settlers for coming there (I assume it was spring time and they had no clue what was in store), but those who stayed once they knew what the winters were about? Pure crazy folk, haha.
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I have to be gagged when there because I am fond of saying that the pilgrim fathers were outcasts who were vilified in their own lands and that if they hadn’t been desperate they never would have settled in New England ?
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Society loves to gag truth tellers. Haha
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Doesn’t she just (or is that he ?)
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Hah well put! Maybe I should venture to New England to see what all this madness is about. But if I lived in say a lovely little town in Vermont, I believe I could withstand the bite of the winters.
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You’re psycho! I’d live in beautiful Vermont, but I be to be wealthy enough to leave town every winter and come back in Spring ?
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Oh but imagine all the snow and little bookshops and perfect cafes, the mountains,… I am a willing psycho 😉
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And you are back 🙂 *hugs for just that.
Why you gave ennui a personality! Deceptive mistress. Disarming. I shall have to cast her off with vehemence I think or she will pack a nasty punch.
I think you have braved more painful winters than I then, Osyth. I got a whiff of the New England cold even before the onset of winter. I dread the thought of its bite. You know I am already dreading the melting heat. I shall save you all the goodies in the world!
The Alps sound dreamy always. Sigh.
But now come over to the other side *evil guffaw. xx
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Only two more months of Alps and believe me Madame Ennui will be making a bid for residence of my heart. We will work on her together dear DD xx
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Hear hear! xx
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Omg! The photos are insane!! You’re so talented xx
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Tee hee Anni, thank you for your generous words. xx
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Beautiful write up and amazing pictures
Sent from my iPhone
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Thank you amma 🙂
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I felt chilly just looking at those photos! Wrap up warm and make yourself a nice hot chocolate.
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I am heading out again for a long walk though it is a cloudy day and I hope to make up with that hot chocolate/coffee. Thank you Sheree. xx
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I loved when you said that ennui sounds better than it feels. I don’t know if I’ve ever been in that degree of cold. I’ve never seen a body of water frozen over, but it does have its own charm. Seeing the ice crystals hanging from branches and sunlight glittering the ground is a special beauty. I remember a few years ago, on a snowboarding trip to Colorado, there had been a fresh snowfall the night before and I just felt captivated by how pretty everything was.
Maybe read a little Charles Baudelaire “Ennui”. That may feed your anxious soul. xo
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I shall look up Baudelaire for I confess I have not read him at all. For now, I am reading the Bhagavad Gita to see what it is all about.
Anything French gets me you see and the word ennui fascinates me in keeping with that thought. But the feelings associated it with, darn it, I could do without it.
I am enamoured of cold too. Snow, ice crystals, frost… they make me think of a fairytale unless I find myself slipping on black ice 🙂 A snowboarding trip to Colorado sounds heavenly Lyz. Would love to read about it. xx
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Oh, you’ll love Baudelaire. His language is gorgeous, and he was a French. I do love the word as well. Such a pretty word for an unwelcomed feeling. Ennui is in his collection, Les Fleurs du Mal (The Flowers of Evil). I don’t know Bhagavad Gita. What style of writing is it?
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Yeah heard of Baudelaire always in reference to the classical greats. I shall look up Les Fleurs du Mal. As for Bhagavad Gita, it is an episode from an epic poem called the Mahabharata. I keep reading about interviews of authors who cite the Gita as a part of their must reads — and I figured why not delve into my own Sanskrit roots. xx
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That sounds like you’ve had a brilliant idea. You’ve been hearing authors talk about it and it’s a part of your roots. I must say, you’ve remaindered me of just how little reading I’ve done of my own culture.
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It is incredible how such frigid conditions can create such visual beauty. Your words evoke both polarities. What excellent photos – the one with the icicles hanging off the fallen branch really captured the chilled tingly throbbing sensations you described. I hope you had a hot beverage after coming back inside! -Lex
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Hi Lex, why thank you. It was a sight to behold despite the toe-numbing cold. Been keeping the hot drinks coming! 🙂 Cheers.
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Wow these are incredible photos! It must be sooo cold……brrrr. That frozen river looks beautiful though. Stunning photos. It’s rainy here……xxx
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Thank you Sophie. I read it is going to be fabulously cold at your end. I am sure you shall have a crackling fire in the fireplace. xx
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I will! It’s cold here today but you know the U.K., we have a weather warning out for tomorrow but I expect we shall a dusting of snow at best! We shall see…..xx
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An icing…always looks so heartwarming. I hope you are warm and having a good week. xx
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Fantastic post!
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Thank you Ronja 🙂
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Such beautiful pictures!
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Thank you M.B.! 🙂 xx
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Yes getting out in the ‘fresh’ air has to help with the ennui. I’m on a coffee break from a bracing walk along the sea front and it’s raised my spirits. Also think of the pleasure you’re excellent writing is bringing to your readers. Nothing is pointless ☺️
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I bet it was bracing going by how blustery a walk by the sea would be. But coffee and fresh air, ah it is heavenly.
Thank you for the words and the quick reminder that it is all okay 🙂 I have stopped whinging and picked myself up. Hope you have a productive week. Cheers.
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*your !! Darn predictive text
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Faucet of judgement has been turned off 🙂
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Thanks. You too
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Oh! You captured that brown-sense of winter landscape that I saw when I was visiting Boston back in January. Out here we have green all winter, with evergreen firs, and even the grass, since it doesn’t get cold enough to turn the grass brown. I wonder if you are missing your beloved Cornwall? Is it a bit warmer there than in NJ?
– Oh, and I have to tell you, I’m still running, I just got back to progressing in time after having knee aches that prompted me to drop my time a little until the knees became stronger. So fun to hear about your running, too! Makes me feel more connected. 🙂
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I can imagine how green it is at your end
(which is why I love the presence of evergreens). The balance that is achieved between the fact that there can be trees bereft of leaves and others that can retain all theirs — nature is truly remarkable. As you observe it is quite brown and bleak here as if the grass and trees are all waiting for this spell to pass. It would be warmer in Cornwall than NJ at times but the gusts that travel the length and breadth of it even during summer can send chills down your spine 🙂
I am proud of you for continuing your runs, Theresa. I have been a big wuss since I got back from India and have been unable to brave the freezing winds by the Hudson. Instead I have taken to running and working out indoors. Just that one day when I get out for a run should make it fall in place 🙂
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There’s a lot of beauty in these austere and frosty images (and, at least the sun is shining). I hope you get out of your state of ennui!
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I have clawed my way out, Caroline 🙂 There is no use in indulging it I suppose. Thank you and I hope you are having a productive week so far. xx
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Reblogged this on Travel Food Style.
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Cheers mate!
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