All animals are smothered in their lairs. I am too absent-spirited to count; The loneliness includes me unawares. —Robert Frost I see frozen limbs reaching toward a snow-heavy sky with no wind and only a muted ray of light as if a shade has been drawn under heaven, and I stand for just a fewContinue reading “Bright Song”
Tag Archives: winter
Frozen Moment
In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan, earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone; snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow, in the bleak midwinter, long ago. —CHRISTINA ROSSETTI Our little house, stilled in a frozen moment on a Thursday morning, taking a deep breath in and waiting to exhale.Continue reading “Frozen Moment”
Times Slows
The mellow music of the cello keeps time to the flicker of our candle, the undulating flame a reminder of the sun, the fire of our closest star. I am overwhelmed by a sense of remoteness in the gray of this return of winter, a bleakness that feels heavy, that reminds me of all theContinue reading “Times Slows”
Gray Days
O Wind, if Winter comes, can Spring be far behind? — Percy Bysshe Shelly It takes just a few gray days before I miss the sun and long to feel that heat on my skin. Winter just begins and my mind always moves forward to spring, that glorious season of first things — new growth,Continue reading “Gray Days”
Anticipation
We watch a beautiful sunset as our anticipation is building for another celestial event, the Christmas Star, the Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn. Not since 1226 have they been so closely aligned – a rare event on this Winter’s Solstice – but just as we set the telescope lens toward the mark in theContinue reading “Anticipation”
Fallow Nights
I know the wind is coming today — a prediction our weathermen inevitably get right even when they too often ready us for a rain that disappoints, but the wind, we West Texans know, will come. This day will bring a northern gust, a cool turning to a colder rush, a reminder that winter stillContinue reading “Fallow Nights”
Slim Chance of Snow
“As long as the earth remains, there will be planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night.” — Genesis 8:22, NLT We awoke to a weather change, that full kind of sky, full of light, full of expectation, full of what might fall, and we baked some gingerbread scones, brewed anotherContinue reading “Slim Chance of Snow”
Packing for Winter
A scattering of green valentines had spilled upon the ground, and I bent down to wonder at the beauty when she appeared, scurried under and over the heart-shaped leaves, her long, thin legs trying to fold and pack the tender green into her lady-bug back, as if storing summer’s love letters to read in winter.Continue reading “Packing for Winter”
Holding Pattern
I’ve pushed my jackets and sweaters back to the far corner of my closet, again. They had a brief airing, a few days of wearing before sunny summer woke from but a brief nap. We all long for that cozy-time, snuggle under hoodies and drink hot cocoa nights; our pumpkin lattes and pumpkin sconesContinue reading “Holding Pattern”
Saying Goodbye to Butterflies
I capture the last few images before your migration farther, ever farther south. You have rested here; our Texas hospitality served for a time, the blue plumbago and sunny yellow lantana a perfect blossoming backdrop for your wild and graceful wings. I’ve held out my hand, and you’ve landed but found nothing as interestingContinue reading “Saying Goodbye to Butterflies”