Saturday it was fairly cold but I trundled down to the

library to pick up some books by A. R. Ammons.

First I passed  the front door rabbit who often sits bum

against the spruce at the foot of our front stairs.

Then I looked to see how my neigbours gardens

had fared in the new snow. It was one of those

days when I had a long to do list and no ambition. 

I still have a long to do list.

" The burdens of the world
on my back
lighten the world
not a whit while
removing them greatly
decreases my specific
gravity"

                        Correction

                         A.R. Ammons

Friday we had our first snow. It did not amount to much.

Nothing like the snowstorms down East. When I

crossed the parking lot for coffee the usual gang

was there.

It might be my recent exposure to all the paintings in DC

but I saw our White-tailed Jackrabbits as characters in

paintings. These two shots made me think of Japanese

nature paintings of the EDO period.

I am sure this one knew Albrecht Dürer.

Our Mountain Ash are stubbornly holding on to their leaves.

They provide a really beautiful shot of colour for the city.

The snow has stopped and the sky is blue.

" God how we doubt the flames of our beauty!

now grow in the burning and demanding city

seeds of our excellence, reasons for phoenixes,

rake ash from our bodies for a new anatomy!"

                                           Magic Animals

                                                 Gwendolyn MacEwen

                                              

Sauturday was not much warmer

but we had a beautiful clear blue sky. 

I find out why our birdfeeder

gets fewer Michelin stars than the neighbours.

Everywhere there was shadow, colour and pattern. 

With a grey sky sometimes everything seems grey.

"Frost sparkles on the roofs of the small kiosks

at street corners

and on the red berries of the mountain ash

outside the apartment building."

               Cold Spell

                                                       Elizabeth Brewster

I did not have photo of a deer for my previous post

but when I found these words in R.A.D. Ford’s

wonderful book

A Window On The North, The Ryerson Press 1956,

I knew my neighbourhood could supply ample mountain ash.

And in the garden the fire

Of bright red mountain ash

Is burning. But it cannot warn us.

                       The Golden Grove

                  R.A. D. Ford