Saturday, January 17, 2015

A Saturday in Winter

Hibernation


The sky is blue.
The snow is melting.
The paper whites are fading.
Winter.
Is is over?

Colorado,
you confuse me at times.
The view from my window says come outside and play in the sun.
Are brumal days and nights over?

Is Mama Bear being tempted on this fine Saturday morning to emerge from her hibernaculum?
Her secret winter home,
 dug within the hillside
covered with majestic Ponderosa pines
that I see outside my window,
may also be heating up in this weather.

Will she be out today?

Or will she, 
like I,
prefer to stay tucked inside a cozy den 
where one does not have to deal with the vicissitudes of weather and life?

* Inspiration for this bit of prose comes from:
  • A post on Facebook by Patricia Polocco where she said, "Make today count...not in a "get more work done" way....but use this day to heal your mind from all the garbage you have dealt with all week, that can't be helped."
  • A challenge by Allpoetry.com to write a poem about surviving winter.
  • Dictionary.com.  This site listed some great words about winter. I don't generally use the words hibernaculum or brumal, but aren't they wonderful words?
  • The view from the windows in my upstairs study/guest room.


16 comments:

  1. Beautiful! Thanks for sharing! Hugs, Valerie

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  2. You created a lovely poem, and in this part of the world, in cold Maine, it certainly hit home. Thank you.

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  3. Well, I had to look those two words up! Sure enough, they are real words, even though I have never seen or heard them, and you used them perfectly.
    Your prose is an exercise in soothing the spirit and stretching the mind.

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  4. Hi Sally, Happy 2015! Don't get tricked by CO sunshine - I know for a fact winter isn't over yet. Hope you are feeling well.

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  5. Thanks for visiting my blog (A Bench with a View); honestly about the knives, not sure how sharp they are, LOL, as some were hubby's parents ones and we hadn't used them in the time we lived in their house (hubby inherited it upon their passing). That I will have to test out to see how sharp they are :)

    I liked you poem. Having lived in Montana for 8 years at one time of my life, I always enjoyed the few and far between spring like days we got in winter; gave me hope that winter would one day leave when we had a little respite from it :)

    betty

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  6. Nope, best stay tucked in. My years living in Colorado taught me winter storms can arrive in September and May. Toughest gardening I ever did. Pretty sure you know that, though.

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  7. This is lovely, Sally. I'm wondering how long winter lasts in Colorado. We didn't start getting warm in Chicago until Mid-April.

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  8. You had great places of inspiration. Great prose. Have a good week.

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  9. I had to look up brumal. This was a lovely post...and a good way to survive a cold winter.

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  10. Just lovely and hits home with most of us as winter hits the halfway mark. Somehow, I don't think it is over but the break is nice.

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  11. A terrific poem -- and I love your various forms of inspiration and motivation, too! Indeed -- that slight thaw? Only a cruel joke!

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  12. Love your poem! It's the perfect way to describe the past weekend here, too, as snow melted and the sun shone. But I've seen these teases of spring before and know winter is far from over:)

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  13. winter and spring are always teasing us...

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  14. Golly, that view alone must make you happy to be alive.

    No, winter is not over. How could it be, it’s January, we’re in the depths of it.

    But coming out occasionally to sniff the air is a pleasure.

    Stay cosy.

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  15. Beautiful poem, Sally.... I have never had any talent when it comes to poetry--but I certainly admire those who do.... LOVE it...

    Hope you are doing well.. Cold here today --with some snow coming tonight. My knee is gradually getting better. It's been a very long couple of months.

    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  16. I love your poem, Sally. We obviously think alike about this time of year. :) I hope you escape the worst of the winter storm.

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