Wednesday, March 3, 2010

The Footfall of the Lion

 
Tuesday morning: the March lion roared . . .
The crab apple bloomed with purple finches . . .

The bell was mute... too cold to speak . . .
A lone chickadee waited his turn for seed . . .
Memories and dreams of summer meals al fresco were buried in the snow . . .
And the faithful tractor stood ready to dig us out.
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25 comments:

Victoria said...

I really liked the mental image that your sentence "the crab apple bloomed with purple finches" gave me. I liked the actual picture, too, but when I read the sentence the image that popped into my mind was a tree thickly covered with fluffy, completely purple (not red and brown like the real ones) finches against a bright blue sky.

Winter still has us in a firm grip here; we're supposed to get more snow this weekend.

Martin said...

I'm guessing that this weather pattern is fairly normal in your neck of the woods? When do you usually see the back of the snow?

Daytime temperatures reached 11c here a couple of days ago and people were actually wearing t-shirts! That's how desperate they are for sun.

Miss_Yves said...

Beautiful words which match very well with your beauttiful pictures ;
Fortunatately, you aren't mute, nor too cold to speak !

Pat in east TN said...

This seems to be never ending, but your pictures are beautiful and make it seem not that bad.

Jean Baardsen said...

I love your photos and your words. March does look like quite the lion in your neck of the woods. I imagine you're ready for spring, so I'll send a wee bit of sympathy along as well....

Carol Murdock said...

It seems Mother Nature has turned your farm into her art studio!!
The pictures are sooooooo gorgeous!

Tess Kincaid said...

Gorgeous! Ours still hasn't melted. It's the longest snow cover I can remember in these parts.

Vicki Lane said...

Why they don't call them 'rosy finches' I don't know because they're certainly not purple, Victoria.

This is an unusually snowy winter for us, Martin. Or it may be that we're returning to a previous pattern -- the 'old folks' used to talk about winters like this and we had several back in the 70's. We had a real blizzard in early March back in '93 (dang if I don't sound like the old folks myself -- possible I've become one) and it's not unusual to get light snows in April. First frost free date (ie, set out tomatoes and such) is May 15.

Well, I wish I could read this third comment. But I can't.

Thanks, Miss Yves -- yes, I'm happy to be warm inside.

Hey Pat, I had just about decided to quit taking snow pictures and I saw that hog wire fence and thought I had to get that -- and then there were other things I couldn't resist. Do you think I;m just encouraging the snow -- like laughing at a naughty child's antics?

Thanks, Jean -- no hyacinths blooming here just yet, alas!

Hey Carol the Incorrigible! This was a particularly beautiful fluffy snow -- it melted some in the afternoon but this morning it's at it again!

Good morning, Willow! Our snows keep melting but then doing it all over again.

Tammy said...

Good grief. You really have had your 'fair share' of snow this winter. It looks like maybe it will melt quickly though, and those March snows are just 'free fertilizer'--your grass should be an amazing green this year WHEN it shows up.
Tammy

NCmountainwoman said...

I love seeing the snow when it is elsewhere. Unfortunately, we are looking upon the same scene. Unbelievable.

Merisi said...

I can understand why you had to capture these gorgeous scenes even though you are pretty tired of the whole white mess, er, beauty! :-)

Remember that Venetian palace with the magenta poodle by Jeff Koons? That was also a pretty grey Venice February day, and I imagine those finches in the tree must have looked just as colorful. ;-)

jennyfreckles said...

Brr. It looks unbelieveably cold. But the finch-filled tree is delightful.

Vagabonde said...

Your snow pictures are really pretty. We did get snow too, and it came down quite heavily for a time – covered everything. We replenished the bird feeders and there must have been 50 or more birds which came to have a seed snack. I took a picture through the window but I don’t have small posts for my pictures – you know I go for the weekly long boring stuff in my posts! As I look out now the snow is just on top of the pick-up truck and a couple of places on the grass and that is all. I remember one year though we had a snow fall on April 1st – and I had a flat tire, so I remember it well.

Friko said...

Well' it is still beautiful to look at. . . . . .
Are you getting just a mite tired of it?

Vicki Lane said...

Yes, Tammy, I'm expecting some spectacular green ... someday.

Mountainwoman, Pat in East TN tells me it the third snowiest winter on record over there. I can well believe it!

White mess, indeed, Merisi. The color on the finches is muted as I was shooting through a not very clean window -- they explode into flight if I set foot out the door and it's too cold to sit quietly outside and wait for them to return.

Just around freezing, jennyfreckles. Not awful but not pleasant either.

The birds here are going through 50 pound bags of sunflower seed at an alarming pace, Vagabonde.

Ah, just a wee bit, Friko (she said through clenched teeth.) Could be worse!

Everyday Goddess said...

Wow ~ that's a whopper March snow storm!

Barry said...

Snow certainly makes for beautiful photographs!

We've had above average temperatures all winter and are heading for beautiful spring weather on the weekend.

No lions for us.

Vicki Lane said...

Hi, Goddess -- lots of white -- very little green.

Barry -- You mean we're having worse weather in North Carolina than in Canada?!?

Anonymous said...

wow... some great snow scenes with fine captions! :) The Bach

Pearl said...

Loved the pictures, but even more I was grabbed by the title. Awesome!

Pearl

Vicki Lane said...

Thanks, Bach! Thanks, Pearl!

I'm a sucker for romantic words like footfall -- so much more evocative than footstep.

Victoria said...

'Rosy Finches'...now there's a perfect name for them!

Vicki Lane said...

I think so, Victoria -- maybe I should let the Audubon Society know.

The Muse said...

Images all too familiar here.
Although I continue to try and see the beauty...
I sigh for I do long for spring.

Your images are card worthy!

Vicki Lane said...

Ah, but today we have sun and blue sky and a steady dripping about the eaves!