1627. winter leaves

 

like leaves of summer

blackbirds dance on bare branches

ice falls from the sky 🦊❤️

As I was scraping ice from my car windows while trying not to slip on the slick ground, I heard birds clamoring from atop a nearby tree. They seemed all too comfortable and confident as they did a jitterbug on the ice covered branches. They reminded me of summer leaves and warm days. 🦊❤️

1626. bundle up kind of day

 

a frigid morning

everybody’s bundled up

a breath seeing day 🦊❤️

The older I get, the more intolerant I am of the cold and consequently the older I feel for being more intolerant of the cold.  It’s a vicious cycle! I must say that when I saw this big, strong and sturdy horse all bundled up in multiple layers it made me feel less old… but not less cold! 🦊❤️

1625. the carousel

 

at the shopping mall

the ticket taker texting

no cowboys, cowgirls 🦊❤️

We visited two shopping malls yesterday looking for something.  We rarely go to malls. We thankfully found what we were looking for. Many stores were closed in both malls and one mall posted a sign on the door that unaccompanied minors could not be at the mall without an adult during certain time periods. It was somewhat depressing. The quiet carousel where the ticket taker sat texting on their phone because of no customers seemed to say it all. Where have all the cowboys and cowgirls gone? 🦊❤️

1624. patience of a tree

 

i’m stuck in traffic

and i’m going nowhere fast

patience of a tree! 🦊❤️

As I sat in traffic I thought about my need for more patience and calm.  Ah…. The patience of a tree is the remedy for me! 🦊❤️

1623. what a day for bird watching

 

just mere feet away

a dazed red tailed hawk did perch

in due time - it flew 🦊❤️

Yesterday during our regular Sunday morning, pre-pancake breakfast walk we saw a red tailed hawk perched on a fence rail. It was right beside the walkway and wasn’t flinching in the least as we approached. We inched ourselves closer and closer until we were within mere feet of it. Its feathers were ruffled up and its eyes appeared to be unfocused. It looked stunned. After speaking with the Pennsylvania Game Commission Wildlife Emergency Office (yes it was open on Sunday morning!) they concurred it was stunned and  they guided us through what to observe in the bird and when to get back to them with updates for a possible rescue dispatch. The amazing creature finally righted itself and flew away 4 hours later. That same morning we saw our Blue Heron friend in the creek nearby as well as a Bald Eagle that was strafing the parking lot in my apartment complex. It was a gold medal wild bird sighting kind of day.  🦊❤️

PA Game Commission 833-742-9453

1622. breathe and proceed

 

when i have no clue

about what i need to do

deep breath… do something 🦊❤️

Most of the canvases that I paint on are large. All that open space often intimidates me… “how can I ever fill it all up”. I generally procrastinate on starting the parts of the painting I anticipate to be the most challenging to express what I have in my head.  Often I have no idea what to do to fill it. I convince myself  that it really doesn't matter what I paint - and I blindly start painting something. (This is a tiny segment of my current in progress Wissahickon Wonders landscape entitled “Captain of  His Ship”.) 🦊❤️

1621. arctic fox

 

on the icy ground

an arctic fox just appeared

soon he’ll melt away 🦊❤️

As we did our weekly qigong practice outside in the freezing air, I became fixated on blades of grass trapped in the icy puddle. I snapped a photo when we finished, already planning to use it for my next haiku post. I wrote the post but did not publish it at the last minute. I quickly composed and wrote another one for the day. I went back to revisit the abandoned post and lo and behold my focus moved from the grass to the image of a white fox (arctic fox) that seemed to appear at the top of the photo. I love it when patience pays off. I love it when unexpected surprises appear.  Sadly yesterday’s warmer weather melted the Arctic Fox. 🦊❤️