snow blind
It just keeps snowing.
We shovel and plow, dig out the woodpile, the mailbox, the bird feeders, paths for the dog and the naughty kitten.
And then we do it all again.
We rake the roof because the spot that always leaks, the spot we had fixed again last year, is leaking again, onto the new kitchen floor that I fixed because I thought we’d finally solved the problem.
We snuggle up under this blanket of white, enjoying the hush that only comes from snow. The birds are hungry, the feeders busy hubs of red and blue, gray and gold, black and white. Yesterday, a red-bellied woodpecker joined the gang, I haven’t seen him in a while.
Life is January simple. A cycle that repeats itself over and over, driven by Mother Nature and Old Man Winter. I see them out there, working together, trying to clean things up, set things right, add some beauty to this battle-scarred world.
Never mind that one day it will all melt into sludge and mud. Never mind that your back gets sore from clearing it all away. Never mind the water dripping in the kitchen.
Put your boots on and step outside and listen.
Inhale.
You can hear a snowflake land. You can smell the clean of this comforter.
A red cardinal lands on a branch and you can see the heart of winter.
It just keeps snowing.
January 3rd, 2013 at 9:07 am
your world reads like a fairy tale to me, work and all. january simple indeed.
January 3rd, 2013 at 9:59 am
The heart of winter; this is an word image I will hold close to my own heart forever.
January 3rd, 2013 at 11:02 am
i wish we would get some snow so i could step out there and inhale…ha…i do love the crisp air of the season…and seasons change…soon we will have life abundant again…after it takes its rest…to hear a snow flake land, how magical is that?
January 3rd, 2013 at 12:43 pm
Your writing took me back to last year when I spent a couple of weeks with my aging parents in Virginia and we had the most beautiful snow I’d ever seen in my entire life. I spent the day in it. In the woods just tromping around…enjoying the birds, the squirrels and falling on my ass with no one around to see it, ha ha! But it was the silence that I enjoyed the most, it brought tears many times throughout the day. Your writing just brings so many visuals…you have such a talent. Thank you! (Also glad to know that you love to cocoon too! Love this time of year for that even while I’m here in the desert!)
January 3rd, 2013 at 10:01 pm
I can feel the heart of winter in your writing. And now I only wish I could feel and see it for real.
January 4th, 2013 at 10:19 pm
..january simple. i never thought of it in that
terms. but it is when indeed you can hear a snowflake land.
tilda
January 5th, 2013 at 9:05 am
We’ve had no more snow but there is still some lying on the ground which has turned icy because of the low temps. The kind that feels as though its cracking underfoot. Looking forward to going for a walk with the dog today and breathing in the cold crisp air.