I have to tell you that January where I live can be brutal with cold, wind, snow, and ice. AND I. DO. NOT. LIKE. IT! Take today, for example--this morning, the temp is 2 degrees F, with a wind chill of -15 degrees. Take yesterday, for example, when this was the view out my kitchen window:
(the circle you see is a reflection of my camera lens, sorry)
That's why I am so grateful for Jane Yolen's new picture book, Sing a Season Song, beautifully illustrated by Lisel Jane Ashlock. Yolen's spare verse reminds me of the delights of each season--and that winter does have delights. The lush illustrations feature realistic animals in their natural habitats through the seasons. The book reminds me that winter will not last forever, but will dissolve into spring, followed by summer, and then fall--the cycle of our lives.
Truly, the wise writer of Ecclesiastes was correct: "For everything there is a season." This harsh season of BRRRR will pass. Warm days and green grass will come again. Please hurry!
What is your favorite season & why? Do you have a favorite book about seasons?
It's Winter Solstice here in the Northern Hemisphere--the shortest day, and this year, a very cold one. It's 2 degrees F as I type this. I join many of you in being thankful that the days will start getting longer. Gimme sunshine!
To mark the occasion, I share with you a poem based on riding the school bus to school for 6 years through the countryside.
Please share your winter memories in the comments section!
This poem also lives on poet David L. Harrison's Word of the Month blog, where everyone is invited to try writing and posting a poem based on a word that changes each moth. Come and play!
(Internet Explorer 11 seems to have hijacked my Thanksgiving post. If any of you have experience in dealing with IE11 and blogger, let me know. So, I'm trying this on Chrome and hoping for a better result.)
I had occasion this week to stay in DeSmet, SD--Laura Ingalls' Wilder's "Little Town on the Prairie." The motel is where Dean Butler, who played Almanzo in the Little House TV series, stays when he's in town. (Check out Butler's blog here.) It is also very near Silver Lake, now a slough, that Laura used in the title of the fifth of her Little House series. (Imagine dried cattails and tall grass poking through ice & snow in the video above. And wind--lots more wind. I did not stop to take my own photo because of the snow and wind.)
This book introduced me to the Little House series, as my third grade teacher read it aloud to us in school. I still remember passages about sliding on the ice, as we had an ice patch in front of our two-room schoolhouse that we liked to slide on, too. Laura describes it this way:
When the sun shone, no matter how cold it was, Laura had to go out. When Ma would let them go, she and Carrie, well wrapped up in coats and hoods, with shoes and mittens and mufflers on, went sliding on Silver Lake. Holding hands, they ran a little way and then slid on the dark, smooth ice. First on one foot, then on the other, with little runs between slides, they went back and forth, breathless and warm and laughing.
Those were glorious days when they were out in the glitter of the sharp cold. Then it was good to come into the warm, close house, and good to eat supper, and through the evening of music and singing and dancing, Laura was the merriest of all.
The book tells the story of building the railroad and beginning the town of DeSmet. It was also the beginning of Laura's adolescence, as she is thirteen in this book and starting to see things from a more adult viewpoint, taking on more responsibilities.
(photo by Matt Howry, http://www.flickr.com/photos/mhowry/617751085/in/photostream/)
While I disagree with Laura about the excitement of being out in the cold, I admire her spirit. What do I like about winter? Staying inside, reading, writing, hot chocolate, the fireplace. What about you?
When your afternoon looks like this AGAIN, here's a perfect remedy--your local butterfly house or botanical gardens.
The Sertoma Butterfly House offers a warm, humid climate and tropical plants to support a variety of kinds of butterflies and give visitors a respite from a brutal winter.
Butterflies hide among hibiscus. Butterflies feed on fruit and gatorade.
Nature has camouflaged some of these flutterers in amazing ways. Here is the Dead Leaf butterly: Until it moves, it looks like its name.
This butterfly's closed wings have "eyes" to fake out predators who think it may be a bird or something more threatening: The morpho butterflies have electric blue wings that show only when their wings are open. That and their tendency toward constant motion present challenges to photographers, but one young fellow was able to attract one, despite warnings not to touch the butterflies: For more information about butterflies, click here.
We enjoyed our tropical mini-vacation! What getaways have you taken to get a break from winter?
As of 9:45 p.m. on 1/2/10, it is -3 degrees Farenheit, with a wind chill of -19. That is actually warmer than it was this morning! When we went out for breakfast at 9 a.m., the temp was -14! That is the factual answer to the cherub's question. His reply?
Grumbling about winter (see previous post) won't make it disappear, but a trip to Denver when it was freakishly warm (high 60's, low 70's) certainly helped!
Garden experts advise landscaping for all seasons, planting for winter interest as well as the other green, flowering seasons. One winter interest idea is including evergreens, of course. But bare trees and shrubs can add beauty, too. Bare branches display their graceful forms. Lingering berries or seed pods provide texture and color. Some branches themselves hold red, green, or gold tint year 'round, but only show it in winter. And don't forget the soft rustle of ornamental grasses swaying in the wind. Photos taken at the Denver Botanical Gardens demonstrate the concept of winter interest very well, especially since the temps felt more like spring!
Don't be alarmed; that's not a real bird in a cage. It was part of my outdoor holiday decorations. I put everything else away, but thought the peace doves could stay. They looked so happy I could almost hear them coo. During the night the wind grabbed them and posed them like this! I was going to pick them up, but laughed and thought the bird felt the same way about winter as I.
As far as I'm concerned, the last time we hear "White Christmas" is when the white stuff can stop. Mother Nature has other plans this year!
This has become almost a daily scene out my back window. It's like living in a constantly shaken snow globe. Current temp is 2 degrees; wind chill is -16.
Many areas of the country are experiencing unusually extreme weather this winter. To all of us, I say, "Take heart! With each passing day, we must be closer to spring!"
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