I gave you the pretty poems about snow yesterday. Now, I’m going to tell you how I really feel:
GO WHERE???
I am so tired of ice and snow. I’d like a way to make them go. I’d like to send them straight to hell, But that would cool things off down there. And when hell freezes over, well, What happens then it’s hard to tell, For lots of folks have said they’d do All kinds of things if that came true. So, darn, I guess I have to wait And let things melt at a slow pace. But if they last much longer here, I still may send them straight down there.
Well, it’s snowing here in Southern Illinois, USA. We got a thorough cover of ice last night, and now the snowflakes are coming down fast and furious — sort of hurling themselves at the ground, almost as if they are trying to beat each other to the goal. I don’t like snow on the roads and walkways, but I enjoy watching it come down — and I enjoy the fresh, pristine look of everything that is covered in brand new snow. I just wish it could land on only specific areas and leave the others untouched. I’ve written a poem or two about my ambivalent feelings, and I felt like writing another one today. So I decided I’d do a post that is a combination of a few snow poems and snow pictures. The poems are mine, but I’m featuring photos from my good friend Terry Valley, who is a professional photographer in Wisconsin. I hope you enjoy them.
SNOWY CINQUAIN
Snowflakes On a mission, Hurling steadfastly down. Racing each other to their goal: Whiteout.
*******
THIS IS DREAMING WEATHER
This is dreaming weather. Nothing much to do Except to watch the blizzard blow And have a snack or two.
Yes, this is dreaming weather: A time to contemplate And set imagination free To wander and create.
Ah, this is dreaming weather: While by the storm confined, Let my heart and soul take wings And leave this world behind.
*******
SNOWCHILD
When I was a child, I thought as a child, And snow was a thing so delightful. From school we were free; we got wet to the knees, And our mom’s day was thrown all off schedule.
But now that I’m grown, I must do on my own All the chores Mom and Dad used to dread: Stock up food by the loads, drive on slippery roads, Shovel snow, and repair that old sled.
Now I look with dismay at the skies leaden gray As I trudge to the store for supplies. De-icer and salt sell out fast with no halt. I need new boots to tread on the ice.
The wind from the north is bitter and harsh, But my temperature, still it is rising; I am in a foul mood, for I see nothing good That can come from a snowstorm arriving.
But then the flakes start, and I feel in my heart – Watching white, fluffy, wonderful, wild Filling all of my world with such beauty unfurled – That in truth I am still just a child!
If we were sharing a cup of coffee today, I’d tell, first of all, that the only reason I’m able to share this morning is because it is snowing too hard for me to get to church. I go to a church that is about 30 miles from my house, and right now the visibility is way too low to make a trip like that — especially with the roads rapidly being covered with snow and the temperatures dropping. I did go out and clean off my car (from the earlier morning snow), thinking it would let up, and I could go, but that didn’t work out at all.
Anyway, there’s not a whole lot to tell you about this week. I taught my “Writing Fiction” and my “Biblical Pathways to Health & Wholeness” classes. The students seem to be enjoying both classes, so that’s always a good thing.
Actually, I did have one student who complained a couple weeks ago because the Writing Fiction class didn’t give him “what he wanted.” He had taken that class from me a few terms ago, and complained then as well. He seems to think that since he wrote non–fiction for years that a lot of the writing basics we cover are way too elementary for him. The course description made it clear what we would cover, but that didn’t seem to register with him. Not only that, but a good deal of the things we’re covering are things he is not nearly as proficient in as he seems to think — as evidenced by the work he turned in for the assignments.
The first time he took the class he decided to drop it after about 4 weeks. Then when we offered it again this term, he suddenly e-mailed me to see if this class would offer something he could use. I told him clearly that I would be covering the same things I covered in the class he had dropped, which includes all the basic skills needed to write good fiction: developing good strong plots, developing believable characters and learning how to introduce them into the story in interesting ways, learning to use dialogue and body language well, learning how to develop and present setting, learning how to edit, and learning how to choose the best publishing options (along with several other helpful tips). Now, I ask you: what more could a student want from a Writing Fiction class???
But I suggested to him that since I would be covering all those same things, and he didn’t find them helpful a few terms earlier, I didn’t think he’d be interested in this class. But he enrolled anyway. He came to class long enough to be an aggravation and then dropped the class again. It turns out that what he’s looking for is some kind of writing theory and philosophy — whatever that is — and for what purpose, I can’t begin to figure out.
I told him that, in my opinion, teaching theory and philosophy did absolutely no good for the students who want to learn to write good stories that will entertain people and sell books. Theory and philosophy don’t help you plot a good story or create engaging, true-to-life characters, or help you jump through all the right hoops to get those stories published. I can honestly say I’m relieved he dropped the class. I hope he finds what he’s looking for.
Well, it looks as though I’ve taken our coffee time to vent. Hope you don’t mind. And, guess what: it has almost stopped snowing! Yay! I think I’m going to get a fresh cup of coffee and a cookie to celebrate.
Hope you have a great week. And if you’ve never taken part in the “Weekend Coffee Share,” visit Eclectic Ali , check out the easy instructions, and share about your week.
We are in the midst of a white-out. What was originally supposed to be a wintry mix for just a little while this evening suddenly became a terrific snowstorm about 1:30 this afternoon. Lots of snow and even more vicious wind. We have not been able to see much of anything at all through the blowing snow for hours. I had to be out in it for the first two hours, but, thankfully, I am now snuggled in at home, and my car is snuggled in as well (translate that ‘wedged like a sardine into my over-full garage’).
I couldn’t get back out to take my own pictures because the snow is blowing so very hard onto my front porch and back porch that I get hit with biting snow and ice if I even open my doors. And, yes, I did say both the front and back because the wind keeps changing directions. It blows from one direction for a couple minutes and then swirls around the other way. But tomorrow I might have a couple pictures for you.
In the meantime I got to thinking about the items I find to be most important to me if I know I’m going to be snowed in. I made a list, and I thought some of you might like to share your own list as well. So if you have a list of the 10 most necessary items (to you personally) when you’re going to be snowed in, share it with us in the “Comments” section below — or share a link to your own site where you’ve posted your list.
Here’s my 10 most vital things when I’m snowed in:
When I was a child, I thought as a child,
And snow was a thing so delightful.
From school we were free; we got wet to the knees,
And our mom’s day was thrown all off schedule.
But now that I’m grown, I must do on my own
All the chores Mom and Dad used to dread:
Stock up food by the loads, drive on slippery roads,
Shovel snow, and repair that old sled.
Now I look with dismay at the skies leaden gray
As I trudge to the store for supplies.
De-icer and salt sell out fast with no halt.
I need new boots to tread on the ice.
The wind from the north is bitter and harsh,
But my temperature, still it is rising;
I am in a foul mood, for I see nothing good
That can come from a snowstorm arriving.
But then the flakes start, and I feel in my heart –
Watching white, fluffy, wonderful, wild
Filling all of my world with such beauty unfurled –
That in truth I am still just a child!
I don’t have snow!!! And I don’t understand. I have the box checked on my settings. I even unchecked it and re-checked it, then saved the settings again — just to make sure. I have snow on my other blogs, but not on my main one — this one. Two of my readers tell me they can see it snowing on this site, but I still can’t see any snow. I even checked the site in a different browser, and that made no difference. Is anyone else out there having trouble seeing your snow?????
I’m way behind withNaPoWriMo, but I thought I’d jump in and get my feet wet again anyway. I wasn’t too thrilled with the prompt for today, so I went back to yesterday’s prompt. It was to write an Erasure poem. The process involves taking a poem or some other text that has already been written and begin erasing words, but leaving the remaining words in the same order as they appear in the original. Then put those remaining words together (still in the same order), creating a brand new poem.
I actually did the experiment twice. Both times I used a poem I had written in the past. The first piece “Yellow” turned out to offer a light, rather lilting new poem, but it’s just a little quirky and requires a new title and new picture to fit the change.
The second piece “Snowchild,” amazingly allowed me to erase a whole bunch of words, yet say exactly the same thing in the new poem that I had said in the original. Wow. That surprised me a little because I erased a LOT of words.
Hope you enjoy both experiments.
YELLOW (Original poem)
Yellow sun, yellow moon,
Yellow ribbon on yellow balloon;
Yellow crayons for coloring,
Yellow bird that chirps and sings.
Yellow squash ripe on the vine,
Yellow daffodils — all mine.
Yellow hair, with cheeks so pink,
Yellow lemonade to drink;
YELLOW (Erasure Version) New Title: “Getting the Green Light”
Sun,
moon,
bird that chirps and sings.
Daffodils –
all mine;
lemonade to drink.
Bright light,
sometimes yellow,
turns to green.
~~~
SNOWCHILD (Original Poem)
When I was a child, I thought as a child,
And snow was a thing so delightful.
From school we were free; we got wet to the knees,
And our mom’s day was thrown all off schedule.
But now that I’m grown, I must do on my own
All the chores Mom and Dad used to dread:
Stock up food by the loads, drive on slippery roads,
Shovel snow, and repair that old sled.
Now I look with dismay at the skies leaden gray
As I trudge to the store for supplies.
De-icer and salt sell out fast with no halt.
I need new boots to tread on the ice.
The wind from the north is bitter and harsh,
But my temperature, still it is rising;
I am in a foul mood, for I see nothing good
That can come from a snowstorm arriving.
But then the flakes start, and I feel in my heart –
Watching white, fluffy, wonderful, wild
Filling all of my world with such beauty unfurled –
That in truth I am still just a child!
~
SNOWCHILD (Erasure Version) (No new title necessary)
I was a child;
snow was delightful.
Now I’m grown;
I see nothing good
from a snowstorm.
Flakes start, and in my heart,
I am still a child!
I don’t have snow!!! And I don’t understand. I have the box checked on my settings. I even unchecked it and re-checked it, then saved the settings again — just to make sure. I have snow on my other blogs, but not on my main one — this one. Two of my readers tell me they can see it snowing on this site, but I still can’t see any snow. I even checked the site in a different browser, and that made no difference. Is anyone else out there having trouble seeing your snow?????
The Happy Wordcrafter 