...that Christmas was white this morning instead of the golden but ubiquitous brown of the
Kansas prairie in winter. Our White Christmas came a week ago in the form of 5 inches of heavy wet snow that melted within a day of it's arrival. However fleeting, it made for a glorious morning while it was present. How I getting out onto the pristine earth after a snowfall; the feeling of solitude and rebirth in a hushed landscape.
The local winter drabness is mitigated when the dried remnants of Fall are reduced to abstract ornaments on a white canvas. My front landscaping bed might abound with color and texture in early summer, but I would argue that there is no more visual interest at that time than seen in this photo from last week. Remnants of phlox and yellow twigs of euonymous and a golden vase of dried grass contrast exquisitely with the frozen green pot and dark green hollies. The mad sniffing dog, Bella, can be seen at mid-right, one long soft ear flipped over her head while she tracks some small, helpless, and probably long-gone creature around the hollies and burning bushes.
Bella and I were happy about the snowfall, but, thank you Winter, that's enough. Leave us now and bring Spring in your wake. It's hard for a proud dog to track when most of the interesting scents are buried beneath new snow, and it is hard for the gardener to siphon energy from a frozen landscape. Today, Christmas 2014, is bright and sunny here in Kansas, but not a creature or green leaf yet stirs from winter slumber. And I in my jammies, and Mrs. ProfessorRoush cooking madly over the stove, will just have to wait, yet, through a long winter's nap.
...that Christmas was white this morning instead of the golden but ubiquitous brown of the
We received a nice blanket of wet snow a few days before Christmas, too. Unlike you, I'm hoping for lots more this winter - we still need to recharge our soil moisture, as well as the ponds and creeks.
ReplyDeleteHope you had a great Christmas!