November 25, 2011

A Thanksgiving Snow



The snow began on Tuesday night and I woke up Wednesday to a world covered in white. It drifted down softly, in large and small flakes, throughout the morning. When I went outdoors to shovel a path, the air was cool but not frigid, the wind was still, the sky was covered with clouds, ten inches of snow had fallen; it was a beautiful day.




On Thanksgiving morning, snow still clung to every branch and remaining leaf, each dried fruit, their dark shapes creating a drama on a white stage.




The stems of the honeysuckle vine by the front door are encased in a glistening gift package of ice.




Annabelle, with her bronzed dried heads, bows to the weight of snow, her stems writing bright lines with weathered wood as backdrop.




A more delicate profusion of gathered lines, interrupted by dollops of soft snow, is formed by dried grasses at the side of the pond.



And in the vegetable garden, a few remaining leaves of kale, dressed for a ball with an elegant headdress of snow. The garden season is over: I've taken down the fence and left these last bits for the deer to eat. This morning, Friday, the tracks of several deer crisscross the field; stems are all that remain.

8 comments:

  1. This post reminds me of the poem that goes something like " over the river and through the woods to Grandfathers house we go.." I am glad yo uhad such a beautiful Thanksgiving day. We did too. Only not covered with snow we were covered with love of family and friends.

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  2. Lisa, I know that poem as a song with "the horse knows the way to carry the sleigh..." I'm glad you had a nice Thanksgiving.
    Amy, this is nothing for Vermont; lots more to come.

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  3. What is it about kale that is so engaging at so many levels? Lucky dear and good you to weave threads of changing eco system.

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  4. I love how snow settles in and slows me... and the contrasts of lines and subtle autumn browns against the weathered wood and the billows of white, lovely.

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  5. Valerianna, I too feel quieted and slowed by snowy weather. Last year I found out that falling snow actually dampens sound, so it really does quiet the world.
    and thanks for the nice comment on the photo.

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  6. Julie, I'm happy to share, as long as it's after I've had my fill. It's good to co-exist with the wildlife, with boundaries.

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