Sunday, December 31, 2017

so cold

the last big snow
 porcupine today
 going
 out on a limb, 
s/he's moving keeping balance
 my walk was short and very very cold
 i could hardly see past the balaclava and my glasses frosted up
 shadows were all kinds of indigo
and purple.
new years eve and i sit home with a candle lit,
babysitting this old house as the thermometer creeps ever lower.
i am alone, not lonely, still missing the new place.
jude wrote about shelter, what porcupine seeks (between meals)
and what i must have or i would die (also between meals). 
i have no quills to defend myself, or ability to climb agiley up, eating bark and buds
out on limbs that challenge balance,
and my language is a conversation with friends, not repelling enemies.
thank you for being along on the journey.

14 comments:

  1. there is such beauty in the blue shadows of your cold winter day & I never knew that porcupines can climb trees!

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  2. Oh, my goodness, wishing for a blanket just looking at your world on the screen. Do love the icy blue sky & light. Wishing you cozy, ox.

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  3. mo, the spend most of their time in trees! out back we had a couple huge old sugar maples we called porcupine trees, full of years worth of feces (picture a two foot high pile below a big split trunk). yep, they likes them trees!
    hazel, i have been known to wrap up in one and walk around queen-like. until i trip on the trailing ends, that is.

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  4. stay warm, I know you love the snow but this is too much. It looks beautiful but too extreme, hoping for an early Spring for you and the critters.

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  5. Oh Velma that is so cold. Good luck with all your vigilance for water pipes and heaters. It is stunningly beautiful; but would be good if it drifted back to slightly warmer temps!

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  6. jean, i wouldn't mind for it to stay around 0, but this morning's -24 was a bit rough. and i do want the kitchen tap to thaw.
    fiona, yep. the forecast, while a bit milder says it's going back down to minus 20 later this week. holy moly!

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  7. The porcupine photos (and in your last post) are absolutely wonderful! (Apologies if this posted several times.)

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  8. stephanie jo, it seems that blogger is still misbehaving, i don't know why. glad you like porcupine!

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  9. Fun to see the porcupine! Where I grew up in Maine, we had one living between the house and the outhouse. She had 2 little babies. I was able to stroke one of the small ones on the nose. Their quills are still quite soft.
    After I came to England, I got a curious little wrapped bit of paper from my dad. It was the quills he had recently got out of my dog's nose! I must still have it somewhere, I had forgotten about it!
    Sandy in the UK

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  10. sandy, i've never seen baby porcupines, only almost-grown ones. so lucky that you got to touch one! dogs seem so fascinated by porcupines, unfortunately!

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  11. wonderful photos wish I had fur on my body, it is-16 here

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  12. susan, fur would be nice, maybe... except, hot flashes and summer...

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