And so on the way down to Jersey to visit with friends, we were given a visual gift of the previous days ice storm, and what a gift. The pictures work hard to capture the awesome beauty of the ice coated landscape but fall very short. It was like looking at something in a National Geographic Magazine. Here is the paradox of nature at her best and worst. Serendipity in action. I doubt if I'll be lucky enough to ever witness this type of indescribable magnificence again.


















Awestruck

Noonday we sailed on an arctic sea
shimmering with diamond dust,
frozen as far as our eyes could see.
Thoughts came in visual fragments-
cold, crystaline, slivers of silver
icicles pirouetting in rays of light
spearing through broken clouds-
and held us stunned; breathless;
witnesses to the whimsy of God.

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And here's my response to Poetry Thursday's optional challenge (a bit of a downer, I know, but still a poem. yay, I'm writing again!!)

The Body Knows

The body knows the invisible ink
of our betrayals, each abuse indelible,
and still it serves for long years
until, one day, it breaks.

The body knows the braille
of our excess - the fast food dinners
that pad our waists; the after work
cocktail rituals; the cigarettes;
and still it serves for long years
until, one day, it breaks.

The body knows the written legacy
of our ancestors, their DNA
thumbprints recorded in our genes,
and still it serves for long years
until, one day, it breaks.

Why do we rewrite our body
until, one day, it breaks?

Here are more pictures from the arboretum I shot last Sunday (2/11/07). Going out of town for a few days for a much needed change of scenery, so will be away from the pc for awhile. Will post more pics when I come back. Until then, enjoy!

Well, seeing as the weather was still nippy and windy out this weekend and seeing as I was up to my eyeballs with cabin fever, I got myself dressed and out anyway and took a ride to one of my favorite haunts, a local arboretum. I stuck mainly inside - they have two large greenhouses and a residence they open for tours (think very posh, circa 1920's, museum-like home). I did venture out for about a half hours walk, then had to go back in because the cold was so penetrating that my knees began to sing an aria. But it was good to get out for awhile. I always find it amazing how doing that restores my inner balance, and puts a smile back on my face. And now I have lots of new, pretty pictures to look at for you. Here's a few to get you started. Enjoy.

So, it's been a while since I made an entry here. I've been busy making art and making myself get up and go to work (that curse of curses). It's been so cold and windy and generally snarky weather-wise that I haven't been able to get out with the camera, so I have no new pictures for you. I thought I'd go through my gallery and pick out some older pics so you at least will have something new to look at.

As far as my poetry goes, well, it isn't at the moment. I feel like I've been forcing it, and as a result I've taken some backward steps. I've been trying to get my muse to come out of her coma since last July when she died on me due to burnout by Napowrimo at PFFA. She has revived for short spurts now and then, but she's relapsed every time I think she's finally come back for good. I find this extremely frustrating, but I guess eventually this writing block will come to an end. In the meantime I'll just have to satisfy my creative urges with my art.