snowmelt
lichens
just above the pond
rock book, no pages
christmas thaw
it is a funny thing
i've been on a vacation of sorts
incapacitated by lethargy begotten by hard work
very hard work.
and so, now i take my time.
i walk around this christmastime and gather and search and seek
like some madwoman wishing a true sign
(and the snow has all gone away
and the damned ticks come out to see
if it's spring just yet.
global warming.
cockroaches and ticks.)
what do i find?
strawberry leaves, green and red,
ferns,
shallow mud holes,
dogbane and milkweed
whose fibers i happily strip,
stuff my pockets,
and bring home to make twine while we talk
after supper is done
but the stories are not.
so, there is this lariat of twine
good for use.
used for good.
black and mahogany and white
all these.
this string for you, my friends.
a string of pictures
duff
ruffed grouse just drowned
old barn foundation
fernstar
being here
today.
i thank the Dogs Above that South Australia has no ticks...enough with the brown snakes and redback spiders already! happily both those creatures are shy and highly unlikely to fling themselves at me from a passing tree [or tree, being passed]
ReplyDeleteindia, i used to think the only scary thing about the north country was the black bear, and now we have disease spreading deer ticks. i'll take those shy bears, anyday.
ReplyDeletethese photos are beautiful & poignant with the bittersweet letting go of the last few days of the year!
ReplyDeleteLove those old foundations. In Genoa, NV where I was married 100 years ago and then lived nearby...there are the low dry-stacked walls everywhere. They always fascinated me. And what you call a page-less book rock, my kids used to call puzzle-rock! There is something special about seeing nature fitting together so well.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful post about your string of time - or, stinging time. Am very remiss about visiting of late but happy to find myself here nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteinbetweenenss says it so well - the time between things and the sense of the seasons being not one thing nor the other. I like that you are still twining in between times...
ReplyDeletemc, i like that: bittersweet letting go
ReplyDeletenancy, this old barn foundation has potential as a new structure... love the puzzle rock
sweetpea, i like your stringplay
fiona, that's it! not one thing or the other!
Thanks for the image necklace, lovely as usual! Hope the freeze puts those ticks down underground again, or wherever they go!!
ReplyDeleteVelma, your posts always help to remind me what is most important in life. Be well, my friend.
ReplyDeleteunsettling time of year - betwixt and between. lovely string of pictures, the light is so interesting.
ReplyDeletevalerie, i am just so surprised by this weather, from skiing to sunbathing (well, that's a stretch). i hates the ticks.
ReplyDeletebonnie, why, thank you, i am well indeed.
jean, the light is just beginning to eke a few seconds into the night
Happy New Year Velma - love the lichen!!! Sad for the grouse - but the cycle turns and new ones will grace your paddocks again hopefully!!!!! Here's to a creative 2015!!
ReplyDeleteHi V - I think the Christmas holidays were invented just to slow us down. The days are disconcerting as there are not the usual demands - but they opportunity to wander and muse. May you see 2014 out gently and in style; and may 2015 be a more gentle, creative and rewarding year for you. B
ReplyDeletewyn, the grouse was just dying as i found it, probably hit by a car that went by us...we checked it and took it home to eat-it's in season and my friend is a grouse hunter.
ReplyDeletebarry, i am SO glad to be slowed down, would like the studio to be more productive, though (grin)
Yours is a life in the real real, and your photographs take me there. Never see a grouse dead or alive here in the City. But, what a beautiful creature! I missed Massachusetts this Holiday due to unusual circumstances of friends there. I might still get up around end of January. I'm looking back over my year and see that last January we had a blizzard. Maybe in between is okay. It's early morning on the eve of a new year so i'm sending a traditional - Sung by Dougie MacLean - "Auld Lang Syne" by Robert Burns written in 1788 is set to the tune of a traditional folk song. http://youtu.be/PER8f7bQIlg
ReplyDeletemichelle, that grouse became food for people. the cycle continues. thank you for dougie. maybe there will be a little snow for you in january!
ReplyDelete