I think this excerpt from Robert Frost's "Two Tramps In Mudtime" is quite appropriate to our current seasonal set-back.
" . . . .
The sun was warm but the wind was chill.
You know how it is with an April day
When the sun is out and the wind is still,
You're one month on in the middle of May.
But if you so much as dare to speak,
A cloud comes over the sunlit arch,
A wind comes off a frozen peak,
And you're two months back in the middle of March.
A bluebird comes tenderly up to alight
And fronts the wind to unruffle a plume
His song so pitched as not to excite
A single flower as yet to bloom.
It is snowing a flake: and he half knew
Winter was only playing possum.
Except in color he isn't blue,
But he wouldn't advise a thing to blossom.
.... "
26 comments:
I like the first photo the best, Cathy. Where did you take it? I also love the poem excerpt, it is so fitting today. When I woke up this morning everything was covered in ice. It had rained in the night and then got quite cold. It's almost 3 pm and the roads are still slick and icy. I'm longing for warmer weather.
Laurie - I'm glad you asked. I took the photo at the Toledo Botanical Garden.
The Pioneer Garden is a small area dedicated to northwest Ohio’s first settlers. It boasts a log cabin that once belonged to Peter Navarre, a well-known scout and frontiersman who is thought to be of Toledo’s first residents. It has been told that Johnny Appleseed himself planted the massive apple tree standing near the cabin. If true, the tree would be nearly 200 years old!
Hope you'll be getting warmer weather soon.
I liked that top photo too, and the poem is oh-so-true. We had a bit of snow last night. It was cold today, but the sunlight melted it away. However, there's more in the forecast over the next couple of days. Winter is not quite ready to relinquish it's hold.
Bev - Yes, the old man is sure dragging his heels. I wouldn't mind his plodding so much if his scuffling feet weren't bruising the daffodils.
Love that cabin! This is the time when us procrastinators get to say, "Well, it's a good thing I haven't planted anything yet!" :)
Thanks for the Frost! (That's a pun)
We had an unseasonably warm 75 degrees here in western Washington today. We hosted a job interviewee on campus--she flew in from East Lansing, MI. She told me they had 3 inches of snow yesterday! If we'd had that, our college would be closed today. Anyway, I'm so glad spring is coming to you on many different levels. All good news!
Cathy, gee...what's happening in Mid-April??? Old Man Winter is playing tricks on us. The winds are howling and striking us with 20 degrees - here in south NC!!!!
That poem describes our grief perfectly. Spring has been a lousy tease.
Hang in there. Spring is really here...
Rurality -
See? I knew that summa cum laude in Procrastination would pay off. Now, you get out there and start working that dirt. I need your dream of seedlings pushing up into sun and breeze. Please? :0)
Patrice
- Ha! I wondered if anyone would get the sense of Frost on 'frost'. You did :0)
And then your poor little interviewee had to get back on the plane and head back into winter. The water is very stiff in Toledo this AM - so I'm sure in Lansing - it's rigid.
Thanks so much for the Spring wishes.
Mary!
Oh, no! You, too? I'd have thought your neck of the woods would've been spared. I just keep picturing your dear pond and the fishes and frogs.
This is all pretty dispiriting. My hubby and I are headed out to walk through a greenhouse today. We need it - bad.
You hang in there, too.
We seem to be "four" months back in the middle December this morning! A heavy snow blanket covers everything and we are weighed down in spirit by it too. Sigh! A bit hard to dig out from under it these days, but shovels are in hand and we will give it a valiant effort.
I think I need to get out my box of paints and splash some colour around.
Cuppa
'Heavy' snow!? Perhaps there's a silver lining? Could it be sheltering tender greens that would otherwise be exposed to harsher temps? There MUST be a upside to this assault on our spirits.
Yes - perhaps you'll paint us a picture - a picture of a dream of Spring and then post it so that we may dream along :0)
It feels like three months back here...everyone's getting restless.
A wonderful, perfect poem.
Pam -
Yes, don't those lines of Frost tell the story of our reluctant Spring? I'm afraid my husband and I are moving beyond merely 'restless' :0)
I've stayed in cabins that look much like that during spring fishing trips.-Thanks for the nice images and poem.-It was a bit chilly, today so Frost was a perfect choice.
Larry -
I'm glad you stopped by. The bird pictures on your blog were such a bright reminder of the migration yet to arrive here. Perhaps you've heard of Magee Marsh at Crane Creek State Park on the edge of Lake Erie in Ohio. A good south/southwest wind in late April through early June stacks the birds on the lip of the lake as they stoke up before crossing the lake.
I almost posted that poem on April 1st. At least some of your readers had a taste of spring before the cold snap. Maybe I will see a crocus next week.
Ruth
Ruth -
I wish you many many crocus and daffodils to thrill your soul.
Hey Sis! Another great group of pictures. I too love the cabin photo, but for me it is that sky! As you well know, we have some great skies here in CO, but I find them so difficult to capture in photos. Job well done. Your "mud and buckets" photo really cracks me up. My neighbors have seen my yard look like a Tupperware sale gone mad too. Not this year though. The poor buds must suffer the elements. Is the confetti on the pavement behind your bunny the droppings of a redbud? I hope not. Do I see some shoring-up in the daffodil pic? Love the blues, greens and yellows in that one. Love you too!
Jen
Hate to be a copycat, but I love that top pic also!
Jen~
It's always a special day when my kid-sis drops by:0)
I did 'assist' the cabin/cloud photo a little by tweaking contrast and saturation in ACDsee.
You and the wee ones must come see it someday as the old venerable apple tree just out of the picture on the left is reputed to be planted by Johnny Appleseed.
Happily, those are maple tree flowers and not the red bud's. Fingers crossed.
Laura -
Copy away! I love it that it pleases your artist's eye.
I like the cabin photo too. And here in the Tacoma we had a torrent of rain. So, we drove south almost to Oregon, and found an enchanting, lovely wildlife refuge. The birds there are in the thousands....everything is coming alive.
Cathy-I used Photoshop and trasfered the crows from another painting, then reduced their opacity to soften the effect.
Bonita -
You're having such a mild Spring after what seemed to be a pretty harsh winter. I'm glad you found a break in the skies where life is abundantly rejoicing.
Pam -
Oh, I'm pleased to know how you managed those wonderful paintings. Thanks for getting back with that information.
Butterfly and the Boy dropped in for a visit yesterday afternoon and that added more colour to my day than any paint box ever could. That baby will be here any day now. How amazing.
We followed their visit with dinner out with old friends. Snow is melting, blanket lighter, spirits lifting. Ahhh, that's much better.
When I get my crayons or paint box out I will for sure share the pic with you.
Cuppa -
I know your blogging buddies are all waiting for the first baby pictures. Those will bring a smile to all our winter-weary faces :0)
Friends and family - the perfect prescription for the ho-hums!
Just think - sweet little crayon pictures will festoon your refrigerator in just a few years. Happy, happy, happy.
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