Thursday, December 6, 2007

Pure White Snow


The first real snow of winter, and it ends up being something like 4 inches. Beautiful!

I love when everything is coated with white, and I don't like it when the deer and dogs run through the yard, messing up the perfect covering. Snow gives the world such an innocent look as it covers up the dead brown bushes, the dirt, the trash, the sidewalk cracks, and more.

It makes me think about those who assume "inspirational"/Christian fiction is boring because of its coating of innocence.

Someone recently asked one of our authors how her heroine got pregnant. Umm, I assume the questioner had high school biology. Would the reader ask how the heroine emptied her bladder every day or even how she got a clean dress to wear for Sunday? Some of the nitty gritty of life just isn't necessary to spell out in a story.

Now I'm all for realism. Give me realistic descriptions of setting. Don't sugar coat historical facts for me. Let me feel emotion that has life and breath in it. But when it gets down to bodily functions and the mundane tasks of life, then I don't need to read those in detail. I have an imaginative mind that can fill in those blanks. Have reader's lost their imagination in a day of visual storytelling through TV and movies? I hope not.

What do you image this ring in the snow is? I find it an interesting formation. Snow has coated the rust, giving it a new beauty. Do you really need to know the nitty gritty function the ring holds? Wouldn't you just like to enjoy it's unique beauty? (Guess the function. On Monday, I'll tell you if anyone is right.)

15 comments:

Pam Hillman said...

Becky, even before you asked, I stared at that picture trying to figure out what it was. lol

I think it's a sprinkler or a submerged water faucet thingie.

The Write Life said...

My first two thoughts were a water bowl for animals or a container to put coals in from the bbq grill.

It's hard to tell the true size from a picture! LOL. But it is beautiful.

Paige

Tammy S said...

Maybe the top of an old crock?

P.S. Feel free to send some of that snow down South!

Mary Connealy said...

It looks like a flower pot to me.
We got four inches of snow here yesterday.
My work site closed so of course
............................
I went shopping?
Okay, foolish, I know, but the stores were EMPTY.

Anonymous said...

Oh, I'm envious of that snow! All we got was sleet that covered my car windows (and the road) with ice. I'd take snow over ice any day.

As for the ring...I think it's an old tire rim, and it would be a perfect hiding spot for my new kitten. :o)

Kim S.

Myra Johnson said...

I like looking at snow PICTURES. Beautiful. I'm guessing a water bowl for dogs or an old birdbath.

And I can guess which book and author you mentioned. Not so much a question of HOW, but WHEN! She really slipped that one by!

(Hugs to you-know-who.)

Becky said...

Okay. The size is about 18 inches in diameter.

Mary Connealy said...

I'll take Becky's hint to mean we're all wrong so far.
So, do we get to guess again or it is one shot per customer (commenter?)

Vickie McDonough said...

Ack! I'm spending my writing time staring at this picture, trying to figure out what it is. It looks upside down to me. My guess is it's a deer feeder, hub cap, or other car part. But the important thing is how God can take a rusty, old thing and make it beautiful. Kind of like He does with people's lives.

Pam Hillman said...

Can we play 20 questions? lol

Is it on the ground?

Myra Johnson said...

18" across? Hmmmm. . . Looks like there's rocks down inside. An old oil pan containing your garden rock collection?

Anonymous said...

Hi Becky,

I am guessing it is a heated birdbath. I see what looks like an electric cord? : ) Love seeing the snow. We have some here in NJ.

I went into NYC yesterday and visited several places that I mentioned in my novella in A Big Apple Christmas. That was so fun to see the City all dressed up for Christmas.

Blessings,
Carrie T.

Becky said...

You are right that it sits on the ground.

Mary Connealy said...

Okay, I guess that's still not right then if Becky is still giving clues.
Hmmmmmmmmmmm....
How about a crockery bowl?

Becky said...

Okay, here we go with the unglamorous truth about that picture.

It is a truck tire rim. We used it many times for a campfire ring. But for the last couple years it has been sitting over the entry to our septic tank to keep people from stepping or driving into the hole and to keep dirt and gravel from covering the hole.

Nice, right?

Congrats to Kim for being closest. I'll drop you a little surprise into the mail.

Thanks to all who commented. Nice to know you all are out there.

Becky