Before the snow

 Snow expected tomorrow; today, rain, 1 degree C. And here is what it’s like outside a few minutes ago.                

"December" by John Clare

 

While snow the window-panes bedim,
The fire curls up a sunny charm,
Where, creaming o'er the pitcher's rim,
The flowering ale is set to warm;
Mirth, full of joy as summer bees,
Sits there, its pleasures to impart,
And children, 'tween their parent's knees,
Sing scraps of carols o'er by heart.

And some, to view the winter weathers,
Climb up the window-seat with glee,
Likening the snow to falling feathers,
In fancy infant ecstasy;
Laughing, with superstitious love,
O'er visions wild that youth supplies,
Of people pulling geese above,
And keeping Christmas in the skies.

As tho' the homestead trees were drest,
In lieu of snow, with dancing leaves,
As tho' the sun-dried martin's nest,
Instead of ickles, hung the eaves,
The children hail the happy day -
As if the snow were April's grass,
And pleas'd, as 'neath the warmth of May,
Sport o'er the water froze as glass.

Farewell, 2022!

 

 

Farewell old year, you won't be missed. Happy New Year! Welcome 2023!

"Come, come thou bleak December wind" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

 

Come, come thou bleak December wind,
And blow the dry leaves from the tree!
Flash, like a Love-thought, thro' me, Death
And take a Life that wearies me.

Note: This is a fragment of a poem, never completed, by STC, and found in his notebook from when he was in Pisa, Italy. 

Burying the St. Pierre River

This is the view of the St. Pierre River from Toe Blake Park, looking through or over the chain link fence between the park and Meadowbrook Golf Course. As can be seen, the work of burying the river hasn't been completed. Just a big mess left for the spring. 

First there was snow and then, in mid-December, there was no snow

First it was green and lovely and we were all happy, and then there was snow and we weren't as happy, but then there was no snow and it was green and we were happy until there was snow again and we weren't as happy as before and then, today, there is no snow and some of us are happy and don't miss the snow and we're hoping for a green Christmas... well, in fact, we're hoping for either a green winter which won't happen or an early spring, like in January...

December 14 (today)

December 14

December 12



December 12

                                                                                December 10

December 10

December 6

                                   

December 6


And back to snow on December 18th followed by -22 C cold, wind chill feels like -33 C.

Farewell Fall of 2019, today is the Winter Solstice, December 21, and winter it will be...