Snow! Snow snowing on snow. Snow snowily snows. Snowy, snowier, snowiest snow. Snow snow snow! (Ice? No.)
The view from my front porch first thing in the morning, in 140 or fewer characters.
Monthly Archives: December 2009
Cold—the porch boards pop...
Cold—the porch boards pop under my feet. A yearling doe walks by with her fur puffed out. But the stream’s gurgle remains unmuffled by ice.
Tagged deer
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Wind roars on the ridgetop; dervishes...
Wind roars on the ridgetop; dervishes of snow in the yard. A loud rending—some trunk or limb—and I hold my breath waiting for the crash.
Bitter wind, and a skim of new...
Bitter wind, and a skim of new snow fills in the dips and wrinkles, making the icy snowpack look young again. The screech of a jay.
Tagged bluejays
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Yesterday’s slush has set...
Yesterday’s slush has set like poorly mixed concrete, and the road’s slick as glass. The Carolina wren sings a song I’ve never heard before.
Tagged Carolina wren
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In the steady rain, a squirrel...
In the steady rain, a squirrel grabs an unburied black walnut from under the walnut-stained slush and carries it back up the tree.
Tagged black walnuts, squirrels
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The predicted icestorm has yet...
The predicted icestorm has yet to start. Long minutes pass between the distant noise of engines. A raven croaks. The stream’s slow trickle.
Tagged icestorm, raven
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Quarry noise. What good are holidays...
Quarry noise. What good are holidays if we can’t at least have some quiet? I concentrate on the dove wings’ one-note flutes, imagine angels.
Tagged mourning doves, quarry
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Four does pick their way down...
Four does pick their way down the road, file into the woods, and surround a small rhododendron. “Stop eating that!” I yell. They bound off.
Tagged deer, rhododendron
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A screech owl adds its quaver...
A screech owl adds its quaver to the minimal dawn chorus: mourning dove coos, finch and sparrow chirps. Snow and highway noise on the wind.
Tagged I-99, mourning doves, screech owl
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A pileated woodpecker herky-jerks...
A pileated woodpecker herky-jerks to the top of a tall locust and flies off. My apple core disappears into the white yard without a sound.
The sky takes half the morning...
The sky takes half the morning to clear: deep blue of the almost-solstice above snowy limbs. The chickadee’s two notes in a minor key.
Tagged chickadee
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Fine as powdered sugar, this snow...
Fine as powdered sugar, this snow. Juncos wallow in it. A Carolina wren lands on a snowy branch, ruffles its feathers, and does not sing.
Tagged Carolina wren, juncos
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Dull, overcast morning redeemed...
Dull, overcast morning redeemed by the croak of a raven. Our neighbor picks her way along the icy road, immersed in the music from her iPod.
Tagged raven
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As if the slow December daybreak...
As if the slow December daybreak weren’t sufficient reward for sloth, today’s band of clouds in the east extend the sunrise almost to 9:00.
Tagged sunrise
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The temperature has dropped again...
The temperature has dropped again. A clearing sky, and the woods are flooded with light from the newly reflective surface of the snowpack.
Dark clouds. Steady drum of meltwater...
Dark clouds. Steady drum of meltwater. A locomotive with the low note of its whistle stuck open like a bagpipe drone moans through the gap.
Tagged train
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A couple degrees above freezing...
A couple degrees above freezing. The snowpack has softened, and the squirrels chasing back and forth through the laurel hardly make a sound.
Tagged squirrels
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A lowering sky, gravid with bad...
A lowering sky, gravid with bad weather. Across the road, small birds crowd the stream, which makes a hollow gurgle under the icy crust.
The wind has died at last and...
The wind has died at last and the sun inches through the trees, appearing to chew into each side of a fat trunk as it slides behind it.
Trees pop in the cold, creak in...
Trees pop in the cold, creak in the wind. Sunrise spreads across the sky like a grease stain. All the foxtail millet is bowed to the north.
Tagged foxtail millet, sunrise
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Yesterday’s slush has grown...
Yesterday’s slush has grown hard as cartilage. I watch a small flock of snowbirds hopping around on it, unfazed by the bitter wind.
Tagged juncos
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Five inches of fresh slush. Were...
Five inches of fresh slush. Were the woods briefly beautiful at 3:00 am? The cedar tree by the side of the house bends low over the garden.
Tagged cedar tree
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To the northeast, seven parallel...
To the northeast, seven parallel contrails spread and merge. An eighth appears through the treetops across the yard, and I have to sneeze.
Tagged contrails
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A broken-off locust limb held...
A broken-off locust limb held at a 45-degree angle by the black birches’ intricate crowns is thick enough to still wear a coat of snow.
Tagged black birch, black locust
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With the temperature in the low...
With the temperature in the low 20s, the few clouds have that filmy, snow-filled look. Otherwise, a deep blue scribbled with white branches.
Steady sift of snow whitening...
Steady sift of snow whitening every twig. But my eye is drawn to the one small patch of lawn grass left in the yard, those brave green tips.
Tagged snowstorm
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A squirrel foraging in the leaves...
A squirrel foraging in the leaves suddenly streaks for the nearest tree, barely escaping the sharp-shinned hawk hurtling through the forest.
Tagged accipiter, hawk, sharp-shinned hawk, squirrels
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Trees rock and sway. The dead...
Trees rock and sway. The dead elm has parted with its largest limb, and the oblong scar glows a creamy yellow, like a well-aged cheese.
Tagged elm, wind
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Cold, gray morning. I inventory...
Cold, gray morning. I inventory the remaining spots of green: moss, grass, mountain laurel, pine, a rosette of thistle outlined in frost.
Tagged bull thistle
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A small band of clear sky in the...
A small band of clear sky in the west, persisting for over an hour, gives the woods and meadow a feverish glow. The sound of the wind.