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Thursday, January 11, 2024

A Winter Pause

As winter moves on, it finds a cozy corner to snuggle while temperatures in Virginia move from extremely cold to a high of 46 degrees, making it feel like spring (until the wind starts blowing). I pause each day either bundled up in layers, splashing under the pounding rainstorms, scraping beautifully etched snow drops off my car, or pretending that spring is coming. I sit by the fireplace wrapped in a throw and find a couple of minutes to ponder why I feel the need to perpetually move.

Finding Winter Pause Moments

time
moves incessantly
warranting a pause
intentionally meant for slowdown
moments
©CVarsalona, January 2024
quietude
indulges in
stillness as dusk
offers reflective paused moments
calmness
©CVarsalona, January 2024
winter
trees swirl
shooting into sky
as sentinels of serenity
pause
 ©CVarsalona, January 2024

With my one word, pause, I am intentionally searching for quiet moments to bring the gift of the slowdown.

Photos are from Long Island before I moved and Northern Virginia.
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Time is creeping onward to the midnight opening of Poetry Friday. I am ready to pause and enjoy the Poetry Friday Roundup with Tracey Kiff-Judson's blog. Click here to read interesting information on the game of Monopoly. 

Poetry Friday

13 comments:

  1. Carol, these are wonderfully relaxing and serene poems. I feel appreciative of all of the things that you notice -- down to the beautifully etched snowdrops on your car. You are certainly embracing your pauses and being intentional about noticing what is happening in each moment!

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    1. Tracey, thank you for your generous comment. I still feel the busyness of this month so I need to purposely find time to pause. I plan on enjoying today's roundup and hope to check out my own Monopoly board.

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  2. oh, my goodness...you are so right! I never know what to wear--the only layer I can sadly add to the experience you describe is sinus infection. YUCK! So many of the adults in my workplace are sick. The kids just keep on being kids...many of us are coughing and blowing our stuffy noses through the days as we try to keep up. Love your photos!

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  3. Friday is MY day to pause after lots of work at the bookstore on Thursday. You've shown me the way, Carol! Now I have to get going for a few groceries before the 'highs' in the single digits these next days. The weather is not pausing! Thank you for the inspiration of 'slowdown moments'!

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  4. I think your poems about pause will be good for me to read, and will encourage me to stop and pause. I have not chosen OLW but need to stop, pause, and think of one.

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  5. Gosh Carol, I love PAUSING to immerse myself in your photos. I can see how they inspire your OLW.

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  6. What a great word of the year, Carol. Lovely poems. Your post made me think of Gordon Lightfoot's song "Restless," and these lines: "In the quietude of winter you can hear the wild geese cry / And I will always love that sound until the day I die." It's such a gorgeous song...

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  7. Love these calming, wintering poems. Just still wishing for us to get some snow!

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  8. Good reminder to take a moment and PAUSE.

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  9. Your poems capture calm in the most delicious way, Carol. Thank you!

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  10. Thank you for sharing those winter pause moments with us, Carol. You really turned them into something poetic.

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  11. You are capturing the essence of "Pause"! Thanks, Carol.

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  12. You've really captured some wonderful "paused" moments in words and photos, Carol. I could feel myself relax as I read each of your poems. Lovely!

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