Snow, Old Movies, and Peace Lilies

 Our glorious sunshine yesterday gave way to a pretty gloomy day today. There was a glimmer early this morning that gave hope we might see the sun, but that didn't happen. At first we had a few snowflakes, then more, and finally this afternoon - those large, fluffy mulit-section wisps of snowflakes drifted over us, once again coating trees, roofs and roads with a new coat of white. Skiers and riders will love it, no doubt. We can't complain - yet. We will be justified in grumbling a bit as we progress into the coming week when temperatures are predicted to plummet. No surprise - we all knew there would be payback.

I watched an old Bette Davis movie today, "The Bride Came C.O.D." a l941 romcom with James Cagney and Jack Carson. Yesterday I watched "Romance on the High Seas," with Doris Day and Jack Carson. That was from 194 - it was Doris Day's first starring movie. I get a chuckle out of watching these old movies, most of which I saw when they first came out, but I don't recall ever seeing either of these. It's nice to watch a film that is purely entertainment - not filled with horror and murder - we get enough of that in our daily newscasts. Having Doris Day break into song, wherever she is, is such a pleasure. Carson was big and bumbling, not a typical leading man, (but I read later he and Day had an affair after that movie), and Oscar Levant, another of my favorite actors/musicians, was his usual caustic self, but his piano artistry was unmistakable. 

Even with watching a movie, I also got some other things accomplished. Like laundry and rearranging things in the basement. That is an on-going, ever-lasting project that ebbs and flows according to time and whim. Sometimes I "rearrange" the stuff down there because I'm looking for something. Other times it's because I need space to work on something that's broken or, like today when I decided I needed to clear space to do some art work. I had Bill Jones make three canvas stretchers for me just before Christmas and finally got the canvas on them last week. My original intent was to do something for Christmas, but that ship has sailed for this year. Now I'm just thinking - experiment with something. However, all flat surfaces have piles of "stuff" on them, so by the time I decided where I wanted to set up shop and got the space cleared, it was lunch time. I watched the movie during lunch and afterwards came into my office to do some computer stuff. I misplaced an important file yesterday and that had been nagging at me, so I concentrated on finding that, and in the process became interested in some research on my great grandparents - so I never got back to setting up a space to paint. Maybe tomorrow. I did find the lost file, though!

Back in the basement to fold laundry and water my plants, I discovered a tiny new sprout coming from the Peace Lily I think I over-watered and killed back in the fall. I finally cut back the struggling plant and set it down in the basement where I keep some other plants that like a cooler, quieter place to live. I have my Christmas cactus there and some seedlings I needed to protect from "Thor" - Tangeni's kitty, when he visited. They are all doing fine with the solitude and only weekly attention. So I was surprised to find that I have a new plant growing - with no help whatever from me. In the meantime, I still have a large, very healthy plant in my bedroom that is just beginning to flower for the first time in several years. I don't pretend to understand any of it, but I appreciate when these lovely surprises happen. 

Drive carefully, be safe, and find an old movie to watch!