Snow! Flurries at first,
Then more, billowy pillows–
Landscape of whipped cream.
It’s been snowing all day, starting off with gentle flurries, becoming more intense, almost a whiteout at times, softening the edges of everything, rendering the earth in silence. Now comes the ticky-ticking of the ice crystals against the windows. And we are huddled, warm inside, enjoying a respite from the busy-ness of life.
We’ve been having a run of rainy, dreary, damp weather here in Pennsylvania–many days in a row. After a torrential downpour in the wee hours of Saturday night/Sunday morning, the wind got wild and blew in great heaps of gray-black clouds and snow, alternating feathery dustings with whiteouts. Today we were left with numbing, branch-snapping cold, the kind of cold that takes your breath away and freezes the insides of your nostrils. The sun shining in the high arch of dark blue sky did absolutely nothing to warm the day. The cat fluffs out her fur and huddles in a fuzzy C, curling her tail over her nose to muffle the cold. I’m shivering as I write this, in spite of the space heater going full blast at my feet. So here’s my winter Haiku:
More and more each year,
I really hate the winter.
Take me to the sun!
I got a fisheye camera last week. These are a couple of the pictures I got developed today.
I don’t know about everywhere else, but it is 70 degrees and sunny in California.
I was late to work this morning because of this.
I could not believe the colors and lighting. This is not altered in any way. It is a direct out of camera shot looking west as the sun was rising. My photo friends would probably tell me the color balance was all wrong and what I should have done to get the exposure right and not so blue but I knew I was working with very limited time.
This was the best of the five photos I was able to take while the light lasted and until my hands froze because I forgot my gloves.
Photo taken near Larkspur, Colorado
A few of us decided to do a drabble where we would start with the word “winter” and end in the word “wren”. So you just have 98 words to fill in (in the middle). Feel free to join in if you wish.
“Winter is so harsh on them. Fragile little things…”
He didn’t look at me, just spoke into the ether. His words drifted away with his breath. Russet-coloured specks littered the courtyard, silhouetted against the snow, forraging for spiders, darting to and fro.
“So many have died this year. I could help, could take them in, care for them. Don’t they deserve that?”
His coat hung over his body, distorting his features. Hands clasped tightly together, he squirmed awkwardly. A shrill cry escaped, freezing the courtyard. Seconds later, he howled and the bird fled upwards, calling out to the other wren.
100 words, beginning with ‘winter’ and ending with ‘wren’.
Winter fell, as Wendel predicted, on the day the harvest began. The pond was slick with ice, the paths glistened, and the children ran through the fields leaving footprints that soon filled with snow and disappeared.
The mayor called an emergency meeting that morning, up in the hall that his grandfather had built. Amongst the cedars for which the town was named. A wren accompanied from the rafters as they discussed Preventative Measures, and how they should Safeguard Their Futures.
And as the sun rose and the ships departed, all that remained was the hall, the trees, and a wren.
Jey’s is here
Morning begins as a sleepless night, morphing into dreams/tortured worries about specifics and the world in general. Eyes burn, bloodshot, scratchy. Gotta go to work. Dusting of snow on sidewalk, turns to rain, soaking gray day, downer, downer, downer…Heavy on my shoulders and on my soul.
Monday…ugh….Monday…
Winter Mondays are the worst.
Pleeezee…just let me sleep!
So, I’ve enjoyed reading twickster’s word lists and especially enjoyed using them to create something new. She’s put up four lists so far, and today marks my third use of her list. At this rate, I’ll do nothing but write for thing a day, using her lists as a jumping off point.
I rather like today’s piece better than yesterday’s. I hope others agree.
I for one am delighted that Punxsutawney Phil (who is referred to on his site as the “Prognosticator of all Prognosticators–how awesome is that??) announced six more weeks of Winter. Of course, I live in mild and pleasant Northern California, where Winter means a bit of rain and weather in the fifties and sixties. Not too shabby.
The thing is, I adore rain and haven’t tired of it at all even after a couple straight weeks of it. Today was the last rainy day for at least a week so I had to go out and take some pictures:
*Well my picture was way too big for here, so I linked it here at my blog, and here at the flickr group! I will work on getting those pictures to a managable size!
My first plan didn’t work out, I have to find a way to share my Photoshop creations online…I edit at home and post at work, and my work computer won’t open my Photoshop creations. So since it has been so cold and snowy here in West Michigan, I thought I’d share it all with you. This also fills a requirement for my Photography class, so this is a new thing all the way! Enjoy!
Pencil + Photoshop