It has been weeks since I saw my shadow. Did I fire him in a fit of pique or is it just this endless Tolkien gray. Or maybe the Martha Stewart beige.
Though truthfully I may have seen my shadow on that one sunny morning the other day but I was so involved in the feeling the sun that I forgot to look for him.
Why am I referring to my shadow as he when I am a she?
I was sitting next to Sheila yesterday afternoon as she napped in her enormous bed. She grunts when I sit down, then grunts again when I lean on her as though she were an enormous firm slightly prickly cushion. She went to sleep. I marveled at her breathing for a while, her eyes closed and her breathing slow. She uses all the space in her lungs when she is resting, her breaths deep and long and strong. I checked the messages on my phone for a while – my legs stretched out, boots crossed at the ankles. Sitting in that dry warm space with my breathing cushion behind me. Later I slid down further cuddling into my pig and wondered about things, my fork leaning on the barn wall untended. The dogs chose corners. Tia the heifer calf, perky and well again came in to the barn at one point and observed us for a while, chewing her cud.
Have you ever wondered why humans have eyebrows. I mean all animals have eyelashes but very few have eyebrows. In fact I can’t think of any eyebrowed animals off hand. Boo has a couple of hairs sticking straight out above his eyes, where his designer thought about eyebrows, I guess. 
I look forward to growing old – I am going to pencil in bold surprised eyebrows and everyone will look at me wondering what I KNOW. Because with that look of secretive surprise obviously I must know something.
We all have eyebrows and eyelashes. Even the people we do not know. The strangers that might frighten us. All of us, unless they were burned off in a fireworks accident of course. (We are talking about my little brother who is not so little anymore). OR here is the other time he burned his eyebrows completely off, with no help from his big sister.
Though looking back that far in the archives I want to rewrite many of the old pages. But that would be cheating.
Anyway – just some light reading – to get us through another sepia day.
The weather today will seek a high of 38f/3C at the moment it is 33f. The wind will be the nor’west. I will fill up all the big heated water barrels today because we will sink below freezing for a few days after this, rendering the hoses useless.
Have a lovely day.
love celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
68 responses to “I have no shadow”
What lovely soothing thoughts, miss c. I was going to say pensions, with the implications of pensive, but realized those are either small rooming houses, or financial retirement benefits and now I am thinking about how those words all intertwine.
Here’s something to make your eyebrows knit together: Underground strike 6, 7, 8 Feb…
I just hope they call it off. Finger crossed for Celi .
Don’t that will happen, unfortunately.
NO WAY! on all the lines?
Zone 1 stations closed, so access into central London by Underground could be problematic. Talks ongoing, so there’s always hope. Peder’s an optimist. And Southern Rail is my only way into London, and they’re on constant strike lately. I’ll keep you advised if any change to Zone 1. Zone 2 will also be affected but not as badly as Zone 1.
Oh Lordy! I have looked and I arrive OFF peak so they might be running – I am going to wing it – no-one is expecting me anywhere until 5pm so i have all afternoon to find my way into town. I can’t be bothered worrying. c
Keep this link handy.
https://tfl.gov.uk/campaign/tube-strike?cid=tube-strike
Thank you – yes I will
Tube strike suspended, c. You should be okay.
If the worst happens you could get to Denham station from Heathrow by bus or by taxi and get the Chiltern line into Marylebone. They are def not on strike but trouble is it will be busy.
Good info – thank you
And here also https://twitter.com/tfltravelalerts
Thanks Misky
I had to go back and read the stories of your little brother T. He was very lucky indeed to avoid being seriously burned both times. I once burned myself on a sparkler and now have a more healthy respect. I loved the story of all of you doing your morning dance in the kitchen. I imagine resting on Sheila while she sleeps is a good place to have a good think. As for those clouds, I don’t think we are done with them yet. We have another, less severe winter storm coming with high winds today coming in front of it. Please let the groundhog not see his shadow tomorrow either. No shadow, early spring. I think?
I am a huge Tolkien fan…a lover of Billbo Baggins. But to live in a world of sepia is now fun or exciting or wonderfilled. Every!
I’m very glad your little calf is well again!
Yes, Tia is doing much better – c
I guess our eyebrows separate us from the rest of the animal kingdom. Two my dogs are Keeshond. They have spectacles, which are nothing more than darker hair that circles their eyes and then stretches back toward their ears giving the appearance that they are in fact wearing spectacles 🙂 We all need something unique to separate us from the rest I suppose. It makes the world more interesting and obviously allows us to creatively wonder why things are the way they are.
Found a new poem today. I’m sending it on. It will help the world relax. Here’s how it starts:
PIG CUSHION
I was sitting next to Sheila yesterday
as she napped in her enormous bed.
She grunts when I sit down,
grunts again when I lean on her,
–enormous firm slightly prickly cushion.
and we all need a relax! I love your poems Albert
Our poems. (Anyway, art belongs to the world.)
My Dobe Sammy had eyebrows–a black face with brown brows–and a little rat terrier I take care of named Lloyd has the same face and eyebrows. Alas, mine are headed for oblivion. Eyebrows give people character–I’ve always thought stunning the combination on a woman of dark dark eyebrows with blond, white or grey hair.
They are like frames aren’t they or maybe the suggestion of a frame. c
Thanks for the links to the past posts!! Great stories, and fun to see comments from back then too!
Yes and the many of the commenters are still the same ones – lovely isn’t it
Such interesting, deep thinking on a grey day! I was talking to my friend who, not long ago, moved back the New England from CA. I looked out the window and called out happily, “The sun is out”! And i mentioned to her that I bet she never heard that while living in sunny CA!! ; o )
Bet you both laughed!
Yup!!! Good belly laughs!! ; o )
I wonder if we have eyebrows because, like chimpanzees, we have a complicated social life and having eyebrows helps us show, along with the rest of our face of course, if we’re happy, sad, angry, surprised etc. etc. But then again, dolphins don’t have eyebrows. I supposed because they have no hair but they communicate very well without eyebrows! ; o )
“Tolkien gray”-very nice, though given your background, I would have expected “Tolkien grey” 🙂 I have not checked to see if this is correct, but my thought about why were given or have retained our eyebrows is because they function as natural sweatbands. On a hot day, if you squeegee your eyebrows with a finger, there is a lot of moisture there. Imagine if all that was allowed to flow down into one’s eyes. Thanks for the fun, thought-provoking post.
NEIL! Where have you been? And you are right about the spelling – i stared at the word this morning thinking about it and its spelling then drifted off onto some other thought. Writing at 5.30 am has its pitfalls. And thank you for the image of sqeegee eyebrows – I am sure I will never forget that! c
If our cat were big enough I would love to lean up against her sweet soft body! Have a lovely day!
I think your shadow is a he because the dogs are also he’s, and your constant shadows?
I don’t have a big pig, and my big dog is afraid of me so won’t cuddle. But I have (not so) little Lumi, today 8 months old, and his new thing is to lie on my torso when I’ve stripped off my work gear but haven’t yet got into my comfy clothes. 10lb kitten on naked skin, doing a slow gentle knead with all four paws! Never had a cat that liked bare human skin, or one who clenched his back toenails in pleasure. It’s our little evening bonding time ritual, for now.
Good thinking – the dogs are like shadows – well Boo is – Ton is always away with whatever animal I am looking at
Humans have eyebrows because we have no fur on our faces to stop sweat trickling into our eyes. Also, animals that lose heat by panting don’t need eyebrows. I lost most of my eyebrows because of chemo; they never grew back properly; there were bald patches . For years, I tried drawing them back in, as my face looks bald to me without them. Then I had them put back by a very clever cosmetic tattooist, who drew individual hairs. They’re fabulous, totally convincing, and I feel normal again. I think facial expressions are lacking without them. We humans use all our faces when we talk or emote, and the eyebrows add a subtext.
What an excellent idea getting tatoos for your eyebrows.. great that worked for you… c
Gotta admit i have enjoyed thinking deep thoughts in a hayloft, but minus the giant pigcushion. Sheila is quite the pig! Missing your shadow made me think Peter Pan – and how you could be Tink, since you are constantly in motion! (As long as you don’t begin hearing the ticking croc clock or that villainous Captain Hook voice screaming “Smead’!!”) So happy Tia has bounced back, too– Hoping for no Punxatawney Phil shadow tomorrow 😄
I was never fond of Captain Hook – and as for that drip Wendy! But everyone loves Tinkerbell. Welcome to the lounge of comments! c