a walk in time
February 25, 2017 § 5 Comments
This morning I walked our dog, her dark fur and my bulky attire cutting a strong contrast against the pristine snow in the blinding sunshine. The wind was mischievously inconsistent, the sun undermining the temperature of the air, and so I prematurely cast aside my scarf.
It was the kind of morning I intentionally plan for, the simplest excursion made predictably unbearable by the folly of my last-minute recklessness. I was simultaneously curled against the sun and braced against the wind, my eyes stung by the brilliance of light against snow and my neck too bare against tendrils of wind that wound deep inside my collar.
Lost to discomfort I almost missed the happy delight of neighborhood children playing quietly, their sounds muffled by my cap pulled low against my ears. They looked like crayons overturned haphazardly against the snow; mix-matched snowsuits and cheerful mittens a riot of color against the quiet. Without their sounds they might have been a memory of my children’s childhood displaced against the indiscernible backdrop of a timeless winter day.
The vastness of uninterrupted snow and the solitude of my footsteps against old memories I might have been invisible, the cumbersome bulk of my shape frivolously insignificant; a trick of light against snow.
winter
December 13, 2016 § 7 Comments
The days dawn cold and I draw further beneath blankets and rest, rituals of comfort to spite the season; sustenance to fortify my body and layers to ward off the cold.
I curl lazily into the routine of coffee, the patience of tea; my hands lingering around the inconsequential weight of unfinished dregs. Each layer of clothing is a ceremony of thoughtful details for the day’s demands, a belabored exaggeration of caution in protest of discomfort.
Activities have become more mindful, less spontaneous. Errands are graded more genuinely by need as I relax into the pages of forgotten book titles and the corners of unfinished tasks. The joyful chaos of holiday trappings are a clever distraction of light, a willful irrelevance for the hour in a stubborn disregard for time.
It is only when the stars interrupt lost minutes of daydreams that I rediscover Summer’s recklessness and Autumn’s whimsy; tumbling into tenderness and reverence for Winter’s stark elegance.
snow day
January 6, 2015 § 2 Comments
The phone calls have been made, this morning’s whispers are tomorrow’s promise; a day wiped clean of routine by the whim of weather. It is a small thing, the simplest joy banging noisily against the fullness of empty hours. Happy mischief and harmless mayhem wait on the other side of a winter night’s dream.
forecast
February 1, 2011 § Leave a comment
The weatherman is predicting a snowfall that promises a rare proclamation; anticipation builds as school children await two words yet unspoken. Snow Day. My children smile in their sleep already dreaming of icy escapades. I peer into the early morning darkness at the fine dusting of snow that holds hope for a backyard fortress of frost populated with a battery of snowmen. Inside, the pantry is stocked with cocoa and marshmallows; movies and popcorn, board games and books stand ready for indoor distractions. I savor my morning coffee and send out an early morning wish on cold winter winds for the simple joys of a Snow Day.
scribblechic 