Tracks in the snow....

...wander around a corner 

from nowhere then 

suddenly stop.

A bird landed lightly on clean fallen snow,

curious icy hop, hop before taking flight.

Cold rain pelted down,

forcing tracks and snow into 

frigid liquid spills on pebbled asphalt.

Tonight, icy streets shine black

edged in grey slush 

yet to melt away.

Watery tracks dribble noisily into sewer drains.

Birds snuggle into protective evergreen trees.

A Victorian winter day.

“True solitude is a din of birdsong,

seething leaves, whirling colors,

or a clamour of tracks in the snow.”

~ Edward Hoagland

Puffed out and braving...

...the cold, a lone robin perches on snow lined fence.

Feathered partners high in frigid trees hop from branch to branch.

“Winter is on my head, but eternal spring is in my heart.”

~ Victor Hugo

A Cat Tale ~ Trouble's take...

....on the weather outside.

Cold...
no birds
maybe mice.

“Cats are a mysterious kind of folk.  There is more

passing in their minds than we are aware.”

 ~  Mark Twain

To warm up....

                  ...the place.

       Here's a flower for everyone!

"The color of springtime is in the flowers:

the color of winter is in the imagination."

~ Terri Guillemets

Three days.......

...with my sister Kate 

                    niece, Daisy

                      nephew, Max.

Welcomed into their home,

comforted with food, fun and kindness, with snuggles from Muffin, Rocket and Trouble (he’s in the picture): like cream cheese and strawberries on a bagel!

Love you all!

“Welcome ever smiles,

And farewell goes out sighing.”

~ William Shakespeare

A Day's Work.......

....is done.

A family's garden has had 

deep soil tilled

It's green garden sowed.

Berry bushes and fruit trees bloom.

Supper aromas waft into the yard

beckoning all to sit at the table to

raise a glass, or a coffee cup,

while seeds sprout & plants grow tall.

In the morning, 

the dew will dry in the sunshine and

the gardeners' work will begin again.

“Rejoice with your family in the beautiful land of life.”

~  Albert Einstein

Hockey Night in......

....Balcarres, Saskatchewan!

Two teams skated onto glassy ice

embedded with red and blue.

The challenge was on!

Speeding young men 

carved the glistening ice

with finely honed skate blades. 

The puck dropped.

Hockey sticks slapped.

Players crashed into the boards.

Bundled up against the noisy cold of the hockey rink 

I was back - only a few years -

at my hometown hockey rink, 

watching two other hockey teams 

at another time 

in another town.

“There is no mysterious essence we can call a ‘place’,

Place is change. It is motion killed by the mind, and

preserved in the amber of memory.”

 ~ J.A.Baker, The Peregrine: The Hill of Summer & Diaries:  

The Complete Works of J.A.Baker

A glorious rainbow....

.....catches sun on a misty morn.

Temporary mirage of magic over impermanent raging storm clouds.

“The work will wait while you show the child the rainbow,

but the rainbow won’t wait while you do the work.”

~ Patricia Clafford