late walk

 guess what was happening after school

on my walk?

 tonight it will be very cold

all weekend in fact.

take care.

just right

i love this print

how the elements come together with some skill, 

some expectation, 

some chance 

and some hope.

like my days, lately.

 printing again,

anticipating the weather softening, lightening

and yet,

only the chickadees 

to my uneducated ears

have changed their endless conversations.

i see big birds: eagles, hawks, owls.

my neighbor's lovely window...

all that work

beginning to fade.

another faraway neighbor

bryan's lovely gift of madder 

on linen

and washi

  a meandering of morning glories

 and this 

precursor of sping

fiddleheads

fiddleheads

fiddleheads

the cold is solid now, below zero at night

above during the day.

but the daylight keeps multiplying

joys

cedar and sumac

and a use for that 40 year old saffron

pale thoughts of my sister's old cupboard.

a beach-like field of coldnesses

layers of cold

blues cold.

and if i am not as sharp as i ought to be

a creature or three maybe

watching me.

i saw these prints: raccoon, coyote, deer, mice...

someone is keeping watch

in the lee of a rock 

soaking sun

before the feast, a rather desperate one,

of night hunting

begins.

bryan's thoughts of spring 

my hopes of spring

anything

to distract from

the rough road of unhappy students

these days.

finally back

moving stuff into storage,

i wasn't the only one.

 i found a stash when cleaning

 inside this tube of canada thistle paper

 a tiny bit of gold

 just visiting.

foundation stonework

 a 10 degree and windy walk

 brilliant sun

 lined up

 turkey trot

waltz?

 they were hanging out

and then one flew

 red outside, red inside

winter prints

a good day.

snow fleas and stomach bugs

these dots are moving!

but i did expect it.

the season of snow fleas has come.

they appear on warmish days 

on the snow.

insects. insects!

 i can remember the first time i saw them

how weird i thought.

 but today

home with an insect of my own,

stomach bug we say,

i went to fetch the mail

between shivery spells

and spotted them spotted all around my stoop.

so i brought out something precious

snow fleas and a gift

the wind puffed

the gift folded

bifolio and fleas?

~~~

the fleas, well the fleas

who knows what those creatures are about?

and this little stenciled piece

from bryan

i will write more later

when my very own specific bug

settles down.

ice doings

there is a culture of ice fishing here.

 amish began buying old farms around here several decades ago.

it was inevitable the two would mix 

in yet another cultural exchange.

this photo has caused a bit of excitement on facebook!

which cracks me up.

you will note the horse is blanketed and in the sun

but it was cold and clear and 

i hope good fishing!

(see the hut?)

 at my place here i often see young deer

hanging out.

i speak to them.

 they browse.

all fluffy in the cold

like birds.

 some snow,

 some warmth,

stove wood at the new place

 warms twice (at least)

 big cold
moving in.

 the drainage from trout lake 

runs through the land

and away, 

under the road and away.

encountering reality

in my garage i hung a window frame

and it frames... just wood

  i went for a ski after resting

and at the trailhead were two huge trucks, a trailer,

 and a beast of a load moving machine with tracks.

the trail was trashed 

but there was obviously some reason.

 i tried to stay inbetween

because the horizontal track was very slow.

before i saw the hobbit house

i met a fellow peeing on the track, 

embarrassed him actually.

he quickly moved and apologized, kept trying to talk about it.

and i skied way over to the far left, 

intent on making no conversation.

 the thermometer read 4 degrees.

there was no wind,

pileated woodpeckers called

and there was more tractor-like noise.

 i was dazzled, 

but still the damn noises persisted.

i tried to pay attention to the woods.

 when a pileated woodpecker begins excavating a tree

it leaves distinctive holes

which elongate into furrows

that in this amazing tree

i can peer through.

can you see?

 then

i encountered this one trundling up the path. 

it had tracks that were diagonal

and therefore good to ski over.

convenient amidst inconvenience.

 i have skied and walked and even mountain biked this trail 

for 30 years

and have never seen maintenance guys on it

or equipment other than a stray snow machine

setting cross country trails.

before a more challenging site was developed.

 the guys (three at least)

cut out a dangerous nuisance tree that had come down on the trail 

and chipped it.

 on the way out they were hauling in two small bridges.

this work used to be done

on site, 

with minimal equipment.

 this stream is being bridged

and i mourn for the days

of intervention by human hauled equipment

not equipment hauling humans.

and humans taking a few little risks and

navigating tiny stream banks.

my heart get sad.

 i stopped at the latest flea market in town

saw one of my old students.

met his girlfriend.

and then i found something very amusing

 curiouser and curiouser

are human beings.