Another (Slightly Unusual) Seasonal Image. . .

Kitties anticipating Christmas Dinner being prepared by Mother over the fire. What's not to like?

A bit more snow fell in the night, and the car (mine that is) must be cleared off later so that the three of us can drive up north for a late lunch/early dinner at one of the several German restaurants in Frankenmuth, Michigan.

I was so pleasantly and delightfully worn out after two hours on skis yesterday afternoon that I did not get to painting table last night but spent time sipping gluehwein with the Grand Duchess before the fire following the Young Master's bedtime. The ski-tour itself was amazing. I was the only one at the park. It was absolutely silent save for the occasional breeze, a creaking bough or two, and the almost imperceptible sound of the snow itself falling from the sky. The circuit around the park's perimeter through several wooded loops and up and down several rises and a few actual hills is about 3-4km. I went around three times in two hours with several pauses to catch my breath and take in the silent majesty of the winter landscape.

My mind cleared rapidly of anything pressing as I plodded along, and eventually got back into the schuss-schuss-schuss-schuss rhythm of the classic diagonal stride. And that mental clarity -- or void? -- is why I do it. Exercise followed by complete freedom from and lack of stress, which all of us need more of in the 21st century I'd wager.

-- Stokes

And a quick phone shot taken during yesterday's nearby jaunt on my skis.

Comments

Steve J. said…

Sounds wonderful! Nordic skiiing much more my thing than Alpine skiiing. Sans snow a good walk in the local woods is my way of unwinding and clearing my head,

10:37 AM

Neil Moulden said…

Well our snow has nearly gone. I had a cold so I did not get to enjoy it with my daughter. May be next time.
I love watching cross country skiing on TV and would like to try it some day. Hopefully when my daughter is in collage the wife and myself can visit friend's in Finland and I can give it a go.
Love the old christmass images.
Cheers.

3:56 PM

A Little More Brushwork. . .

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M aking some early progress with Batch A of the Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment over the last several days/evenings. Nothing terribly exciting just yet, but the basic black, brown, and flesh areas are done as are the green bases, and gray undercoat. The latter two areas needed some careful retouching early in the week. Next up, the neck stocks. I might just do these in red for the enlisted men although some of my source material suggest they were black, but I always look for an excuse to shake things up a bit. Any errant splotches of red (or black) can be covered with another application of light gray before I move onto the next step. "Giddy up!" as one Cosmo Kramer might have said. -- Stokes

The Grand Duchy of Stollen

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