Mist Mountain

(On Writing)

Words like wine

distill it down

fragrant

wafting fruity smells

perfuming the mind

and decorating the soul

amber.

Spill it over-

filling the glass full up.

On Letting Go

That You Would Say “I’m Sorry”

***

Words would sooth

the ribbon cuts that you made

by your heartless actions

by your veiled simple cruelties

by your calculated

intent

to pull out all of the underpinnings in my life

and see to

the crafting of my demise.

What drove you to this?

What motivated you?

The vexing nature of this thing

hangs ‘round me as a chain

to this day-

but there are

no words

forthcoming.

In This House

In This House

Winter solace
by the fire,
her hands warmed by it enough-
this life in the Appalachians was a hard one.

They lived here alone, up high.

The river ran by the house
and constant was the flow of it
down through this valley.
In this house, her hands
moved with grace
to crochet the baby
bonnet that matched
her wee pink cheeks
and clothed her naked head.
A single blond curl
over the infant's brow peeked
through the bonnet her mother fashioned in this house.
An apron sat on a peg near the fire
in this house.
In this house, cooking perfumed the timber
and filled the wood with savory spice.
In this house a man and his wife
made a life
carved out of the mountain’s belly.

Years have passed by
one by one
but the chimney
laid stone by stone
still stands, 
a testimony
to the stark beauty
and purpose
of simple mountain living.

Summer Reflections in the Midst of Winter

This photo was one
of my early
photographs taken on a
beach in Florida.
It was taken, perhaps 20
minutes too late (as it is dark)
but I still love its vivacious
color and its
tenacity.
Colors really get this bold
on the beach.
Enjoy.
:)

Hair Today - Gone Tomorrow :)

Ice Hair Gone Mad

Tender Ice Hair (Very Fragile, Lovely White and Translucent)

Translucent Ice hair on a Winter White Background

Long Ice Hair
(Higher Elevation...)

I (just) couldn't resist taking one dog
and hiking higher (about a mile up
across the road; circumventing 3 hollows)
to see what it was like yesterday.
The higher elevation I got,
the more prolific was the hair-
ice phenomenon! These are from yesterday
afternoon. Alas, as I was hiking, the
temperature was slowly creeping
upward ( from 20 in the early morning)
and occasionally, the wind would blow
in over the mountains. When it did, I would be
SHOWERED with little ice hairs,
all over my face and person. What was neat
as well was that all over the surface of the
crystal-white snow, there was a carpet of fallen
ice hairs, going this way and that...
forming a most delicate lattice
on the top of the snow.
It was truly unique and very
beautiful in its intricacy. However,
white on white sparkling in
bright white sunlight does
not a good photo make,
unfortunately. :)
...But I wanted you to see it.
By late afternoon, the phenomenon
of the crystal ice hair was all but gone.
Hence, hair today - gone tomorrow.
Enjoy these pics though!
Yours,
louvregirl.
(I may not hike out
today as it is colder,
snowing and blowing
blustery snow.
The woods is once again,
awash in
winter white
powdery
snow.)
:)

Ice Hair

O.K.
I woke up this morning and did
the usual thing...
took the dogs out.
As I was rousing from my grog,
I began to notice strange
hairy plants all around...
everywhere!!
I mean everywhere.
So I wrote a poem
about it (of course.)
Stand back.

ice hair here
ice hair there
ice hair
everywhere

It was awesomely beautiful and downright
hairy overall.

Click to enlarge
[So that you, too,
can get the same
(rather) hairy
effect...]

I'm sure that there is a scientific
name for all of this...hair.
The ice apparently
crystallized in long
spiky finger-like forms.
And, of course, being the kid that I really am,
I had to touch them. They are not as fragile
as you might think. They actually break off
(as spikes) and lay in your hand...until they melt.
Groovy-eh?? This should keep me busy today;
I mean...the wonder of it all.
The icy phenomenon lead me to ask,
does nature ever really
present itself
in the exact and very same fashion
each
and every
day?
Enjoy (the heck) out of these
friends
of the
Appalachians.

Lit Up

A bright sky and
rolling clouds
made this
mountain top view
just brilliant.

Wintry Travel (Pics)

Majestic Winter Trio
(click to enlarge)
:)

The Event Commences

Yes. We are snowed in. Here in the High Country,
this is a regular event during the heart of the winter.
After about 4-5 inches of the white powdery stuff
many (if not most) of our roads are built with
too steep of an incline to get traction. Last night,
in a lightening idea brainstorm (could be, cabin fever?),
we decided to try and venture out to get....
deer corn (of course-we don't want the deer
to go hungry!)
We had had about 5 inches of snow,
and we concocted (mistakenly) that our tough
all wheel drive Mercury Mountaineer
tank with big tready tires...could (easily) hack it.
We did get down off the mountain to a rather
long steep incline that goes up (to us) off of the
main highway (which might have been plowed) but
after spying a women in a minivan partly on the
road/partly in the ditch, we tried to stop the car
on the incline. We kept sliding...and sliding....
so we did surmise (mutually) :)
to turn around and head back home.
In fresh snow, we have found if we keep
the vehicle moving (on an incline even)
we can continue on our journey.
You wouldn't want to stop.

When the Big Plow (we love love love him)
comes through (which it usually does daily,
except in the case of a nasty long drawn out blizzard,)
he puts down a huge spray of sand and of salt
making the road navigable
(until the snow again covers this.)
We usually piggy-back ourselves on the plow,
going out just right after he comes through
and does his miraculous work.

They are forecasting snow largely
for all of next week.
The down side for my teenage daughter is,
the local high school will probably be closed
all week (again, largely because the mountain
roads here are too dangerous for snowy travel
due to their pitch and their incline.)
She is sad (about this) and will
have to make up all time off by adding on to the
school calender at the end of the year (summer!)
or by attending school on good weather Saturdays.
And then-there are exams to make up, which
tends to make her nervous. But we are well.
As always, I will keep you
posted.
:)

Stark

The stark
gray, black and brown
of the woods-
enhanced
by winter's light
snow
dance.
:)

Series Above 3000

JustHeaven(ontheBlueRidge)

MyStripedLove

RoyalBlue

StriatedVariations

SmokeyRidgeSky

WildRide

HeavenlyStriping

SkyRibbons

HeavenlyValley

MountainTopIllumination

WinterMorningColor

Cold Today

We had drizzle and some warmer temps that melted
almost all of the 18 inches of snow that we had.
But, it has now gotten C-O-L-D again
(under 20 degrees.) What is it,
about ducks that enable them to keep
their feet in that freezing water?
Why aren't their little webbed feet blue
(or something?) The dogs have been muddy,
so I have had them dipping their feet in a chilly pool;
which they hate! Chilly temps here,
but we are (at least) seeing some sun!
I am hoping to procure some shots of interest for you
when I get my chores done that I neglected
over the holidays!!!! I hope that your
New Year's celebration was peachy keen
as well! I was like a large polar bear
laying sprawled out the snow-
content and at home...
and certainly
not accomplishing all too much!
School is back in session tomorrow
(for my youngest.)
Vacation is
over.

Resolute Things: 2011

Things that are resolute:

The rocks of the Appalachian Trail

The mess of my son's room (thus far...)

...That the wispy streaks of cloud

will be whipped up by mountain currents

(looking just like sky cotton candy

as they travel onward...upward)

That I will spy

a new moon

to abandon myself to...

That I will walk through

the melting and the return

of all things snow...

That man will write and write and write

(again)

(There is more yet, to be said...)

That my bed feels good

That my heart will be stirred

That the calendar will soon turn (again)

and that

I am

the lazy days

of summer.