winter

winter blues

winterblues

Memories are priceless…they are like hot chocolate and cozy socks on a chilly night.  This past week as I watched videos of the winter storm along the east coast memories of a particular winter in Iowa when the wind chill was reported to be 60 below zero visited for a moment or two…it was then replaced with memories of family photos of the winter  in Portola, California when the snow fall was recorded at 9 feet.

donna

Donna, Portola California

Even though January is my birth month, I often experience the winter blues in January as it is usually the longest, coldest, darkest month of the year.  Not so this year in Northeastern Colorado…weather forecast for today is partly cloudy and 47 degrees.

50% tip…Rachel Maddow’s tipping rule…there is gratitude for the compassion she has for those who deliver pizza through the rages of nature. Maddow: Terrible weather tipping rule is in effect:

weekly photo challenge: serene

looking delicious

the snow falling softly

softly

~Issa (www.haikuguy.com)

sereneweb

Nikon D750   f/5.6    1/200s    300 mm    100 ISO

those snow days…blanketing the earth and gifting us with silence, before snow shovels and snow removal trucks, serene

Let’s spend a few minutes listening to…The Sound of Silence, Simon and Garfunkel.

No matter how much things change, they still remain the same.

weekly photo challenge: anticipation

When I was so much younger than I am today, December was the month of anticipation.  The movement of time from the beginning of winter break until Christmas crawled slower than a snail.  Today, winter is the season of anticipation…winter advisories, wind chill, snow-covered sidewalks…and most importantly…the awakening of spring.

green

52 weeks photo challenge: week 14 – winter

winter

Thus far autumn has offered us a beautiful transition with her just-right temperatures and multi-colored landscapes.  In the past, it was not uncommon for her to allow winter a brief visit during the first half of November…but not this year.  So this image submitted for The Girl Who Dreams Awake is of  winter’s past.

black & white sunday: local watering hole

 

The source of water for the residents of Fort Collins, CO comes from large areas of land that drain snowmelt and rainfall waters to the Upper Cache la Poudre River, Big Thompson River, and Horsetooth Reservoir. 

While walking around Horsetooth during this past winter, I was drawn to the composition of these elements of the shoreline… rocks, ice, water, and sky.  

Horsetooth Reservoir

Horsetooth Reservoir

Offered in response to Irene Water’s challenge as a guest at  Paula’s Lost in Translation

weekly photo challenge: achievement

On Foot

I had to Walk Through the Solar Systems,

before I found the first thread of my red dress.

Already, I sense myself.

Somewhere in space hangs my heart,

sparks fly from it, shaking the air,

to other reckless hearts.

            (“My self-confidence depends on the fact that I have discovered my dimensions:

It does not become me to make myself less than I am.”)

                                                                                                                           ~Edith Sodergran (1892-1923)

after the first snow (2)

to view additional images or to join in Michelle W’s challenge, “show us a photo that says ‘achievement’ to you” visit: thedailypost 

*cited:

Women in Praise of the Sacred

Ed: Jane Hirshfield

 

weekly photo challenge: window

In the aging house,

crookedness of the door being straightened,

a spring-like winter day.

            ~Buson*

weeklyphotochallengewindow

For additional images submitted for this week’s photo challenge: winter, visit The Daily Press @ WordPress.com

 

*cited:

Haiku Master Buson

Yuki Sawa & Edith Shiffert

accompany you home

leaf waterfall

Dear Larry,

as the winter winds travel across Wyoming’s landscape

the swirling snow releases its memories of you, lost upon Casper Mountain

its frigid touch awakens me to imagine your

aloneness in that wilderness of blinding snow

cries, deafened by the river of winds,

calling out in hope for

a human form to emerge out of the whiteness

the warmth of a human hand

the sound of a voice, comforting you

to accompany you home.

as I become lost within this winter’s swirling thoughts

the river winds tear into my soul

releasing tears arising from

the darkness of grief’s aloneness, seeking

a knowing to emerge out of ignorance’s darkness

you found peace

within a loving presence

that embraced you

and accompanied you home –

until then may refuge be found within the nature of things.