The garden waits, entombed in ice.Life suspended, frozen time.
Stiff and brittle, brown and silent.
Bowing low to winter's will.
Buried deep, it hides within.
Fire smolders, glazed in rime.
Ice the master, cold its maiden.
Staying spring with binding chill.
Blue the ice, reflecting sky.
Bluer yet, on cobalt glazed.
Crystal water stretches down,
Straining for the frozen ground.
Ice has come, and ice will go.
Sun will shine, new longer days.
Winter trembles, spring will win.
Melting cobalt's shining crown.
Just a little ode to the ice storm that really wasn't. Yes, we got some ice here in the Flint Hills, perhaps a quarter inch, more likely an eighth. Not nearly the shel-icing predicted and simply an expected moment of winter caused by the collide of different weather fronts. The only bright color in my garden is now the bottle tree, a shining gem with a fantastic multi-faceted coating. It was for this moment that I cemented the post deep in the ground years past, stalwart against the worst of wind and storm, to shout defiance at the winter's worst. I could only wish today for sunshine, to make it glisten and shine, if only for the briefest moment. 
School was canceled here on Friday in preparation for the ice-pocalypse we were supposed to get, but nothing even started here until Sunday morning. I don't think we got all that much, but it has been pretty cold until this week. An extra day off from school was appreciated and gave me the time to work on garden plans for Spring, but at the same time, the kids were just getting back into the swing of things, only the have a four day weekend to get back into break mode!
ReplyDeleteAre bottle trees popular out here? I know they are popular down south where I am from originally, but I haven't seen any out this way. I think we even spent a day or two on them when I took a semester-long elective in high school called Southern Culture!
Glad you are getting your gardening mo-jo back. I am either starting over or moving-can't decide which. I'm tired of the small amount of sun the veg garden gets so the plan is to dig new beds in the sun filled meadow, hugelkulture, buy soil and manure-all a lot of work and expense. As older age creeps upon me maybe the effort should be saved for the next smaller place and throw in the towel here. I'll miss the deer who visit the meadow often in winter-but then the new plan would mean fencing them out anyway.
ReplyDeleteSpring is just around the corner ... honestly!! We had the most beautiful mild and sunny day today, here in the uk, it made it seem so close!
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