A Recipe for Winter

Blend sun and snow. Toss in shadows. Stir lightly. Store below freezing. Enjoy.

 

The Shape of Snow

Snow forms, falls, fills our world with white.

But odd things can happen after it arrives. Warming, chilling, melting. More cold. Now unusual patterns appear in the leftover snow.

After the latest warm spell when temperatures hovered either side of freezing these “leftovers” disappeared.

But fresh snow is back. For two days it has fallen steadily, nearly a foot now — if conditions are right the trees may once host a gallery of abstract art.

Fenced in by Winter

Enough with the cold.
The snow.
The wind chill.

Enough!

So I added a little colour.
It’s warmer already.

‘Tis That Time of Year

We are one day past the solstice.
The year’s darkest corner has been turned
and I can feel my spirits lift.

Fresh snow fell this week
and in the woods
silence hangs thick upon the branches.

Sol plays hide-and-seek behind the trees
then suddenly flashes green and red.
Mother Nature’s Christmas card.

 

 

Fan-dango

Fandango:
1. a lively Spanish dance for two people, typically accompanied by castanets or tambourine; or,
2. a foolish or useless act or thing.

It started with a thump on the living room window. I knew the sound. Not good. Something had flown into the glass.

I grabbed the camera and went to look. I didn’t see anything at first, then suddenly a male grouse rounded the corner of the deck. He was in full display — his gorgeous blue-black ruff puffed up around his head, his eye combs bright red and his tail feathers fanned out like a peacock. A great idea in the summer when you’re hoping to attract a female’s eye. But in November? In. The. Snow?

He strutted across the deck and onto the ground beneath the window.

It must have been a female who hit the window. Perhaps to escape his unwanted attention. That’s when I saw the first feathers. I assumed she’s survived the impact as he kept moving along, his eye firmly on his target.

I caught sight of her for a brief moment, then she disappeared around the corner of the house. He followed …

… trailing her to the front of the house.

About then one of the four females sitting in the saskatoon bush flew low over their heads and into a spruce tree. The male, seeing fresh opportunity, forgot about the first female and went to check out the new prospect. Seeing her chance the first female departed the scene.

The new bird kept to her branch. She was not interested. He stayed below, Romeo to her Juliet.

As for the injured female? I saw her later beyond the end of the garden. I’m not sure how seriously she was hurt. Later I checked where she had struck the glass and found dozens of feathers.

Reflections confuse the birds. Although we’ve done what we can to bird-proof our windows, two female grouse died this summer when they flew into them. Thinking they have an escape route they hit hard glass instead.

Hopefully this one will survive.

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Ruffed grouse   Bonasa umbellus

Storytellers

Trees keep alive the old stories, the tales of then and now and why and how.

Most of the time we’re too impatient to listen.

But if we slow down
if we move among them with an open heart
we might just hear what they have to say.

Storm Warning

Forecast
Cold. Icy roads.
Blowing snow. Poor visibility.

Forethought
Chains? Shovel?
Emergency gear?
Matches? Candles?
Extra food?

Foregone conclusion
Shoulda just stayed home.

Fallen Timber

This creek ripples over rounded rock
Slips softly through reflections
Of tall spruce
Spilling green into
The disappearing days of autumn

 

Light in the Forest

Where trees are thick and tangled
Where sun finds little passage
Where even air is heavy and dark

For a brief moment
A single point of light
Settles here.

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Palmate-leaved coltsfoot  Petasites palmatus

 

Cows & Conifers

Puts cows and spruce trees together for any length of time and this is what you get — trunks pruned of branches and bark rubbed smooth.

In pastures with few trees the damage is even greater for it’s here the cattle gather when sun beats down, when rain and hail pelt them, when snow falls thick and fast.

The earth also suffers as their hooves churn the soil to dust or mud holes or frozen lumps, depending on the season. Little can grow under such a pounding.

All part of the price of hamburger and steaks.