Bundle Up, It's Cold Outside!

The theme for this weekend is Brrrr Cold!  Did I mention that this season in Virginia is looking like a New York winter? It is cozy indoors right now but late this afternoon snowstorm #4 or is it 5 comes my way? To prepare for another white blast, I join the Poetry Sisters' challenge, “poetry inspired by something overheard.” 

Since most people are not out and about in this very cold weather, I turn to the internet for quotes and thoughts about winter in preparation for my Winter's Embrace 2022 Gallery of Artistic Expressions. I also read a mentor text by Susan Thomsen who created several found poems based on overheard conversations. Check out Susan's link here.

Photos of the Week for #WintersEmbrace2022 Gallery

Bundle Up, It's Cold Outside

Baby, it's cold outside.

Snow flurries swirl around

people's legs like house cats.

Nothing burns like the cold.  It's

cold and cruel, to begin with,

but it's somehow beautiful,

sparkling like a million little suns

making our feet and fingers glow.

I wonder if the snow

loves the trees and fields

that it kisses them so gently?

Winter is the time for comfort.

Take the cold seriously.

The snow is coming!

©CVarsalona, 2022

Found poem, #PoetryPals

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Send offerings to my Padlet, Winter's Embrace 2022 Gallery of Artistic Expressions at:

https://padlet.com/cvarsalona/mpquz3os1m4x3viq

and or cvarsalona at gmail.com

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My Poetry Postcards are being sent out today.

I am truly enjoying reading the postcards received from poet friends.

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It's time to visit the imaginative and creative host for today's Poetry Friday, Irene Latham, here. Irene's post is filled with welcome and wisdom, her latest ArtSpeak poem, and other poetic goodness. 

 

Image collaged by Linda Mitchell

Appreciate OLW: Winter Thoughts

      Welcome to the First Poetry Friday of 2022!        

 “Winter, a lingering season, is a time to gather golden moments, embark upon a sentimental     journey, and enjoy every idle hour.”     -Attributed to John Boswell 

Happy New Year to my fellow poets, authors, friends, and guests!

This is the week when my one little word is revealed every year. There were a series of experiences that helped me choose my one word that was officially posted iyesterday. You can find out more information at my post,  Connecting with My One Little Word - SJT 2020, here. I chose appreciate as my one little word but more importantly, I think it chose me too. One line from a TEDx talk by Mike Robbins helped me recognize the importance of my one word as a healing word. "Appreciation is an important element in effectively dealing with the stress of challenges and uncertainty that so many of us are facing these days." Appreciate revolves around the concept of positivity so as I walk through each day, I am ready to find items or events that are small, ordinary, or big to bring a measure of joy into life.

I am ready to appreciate more of life this year. For today's appreciation thought I want to send warm greetings to the Poetry Friday community who have become more than a virtual grouping of writers, authors, and poets. You are all closely knit as a cohesive group of supportive friends. I value your friendship, your critiques, and your encouragement. Enjoy your walk through winter this year and if you are so inclined, send me an image poem, drawing, quote, song, playlist, or any other artistic expression to share the beauty of winter for a new poetic gallery to send around the globe. 

It is the life of the crystal, the architect of the flake, the fire of the frost, the soul of the sunbeam. This crisp winter air is full of it.-John Burroughs

May the crispness of winter fill your soul. Thank you for sharing your posts tonight and tomorrow. I am sorry that this posting comes late. My gathering with my family came later than expected. Now that the little grandgirls have finally stopped talking and closed their eyes for the night, I will post this blog. Click on Mr. Linky below. Thank you for joining my Welcome to 2022 with the Poetry Friday Community. 

v

Serenity of Snow

"The silence of peaceful slumber blankets the garden." 

Yesterday, as I entered the great room, I noticed a white setting peering at me through the dual fireplace and windows. Were my eyes deceiving me? In my haste to answer that question, I dropped my pillbox and many multi-colored little objects fell across the floor. A magical snow scene caught me by surprise, much like many winter pasts on Long Island, New York. 

Upon a closer look, a snowglobe winter lay before me. Astonished that the weather changed in a day's time from 60ish-degree, springlike temperatures to a freezing chill, I moved to the door and was greeted by a rush of cold breeze sweeping across the patio. Several inches of snow stood tall in the space surrounding the door.

Off of the front door entrance lay a pristine, Hallmark moment. The beauty of nature dusted in white confetti was serene. Appreciation for nature's gift of snow wrapped in winter flowed. I listened in the stillness and breathed in a silent moment of peace.

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"To appreciate the beauty of a snowflake,

it is necessary to stand outside in the cold."

-Aristotle

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Winter Morn

I

open

my door to 

winter's magic in 

a domed, snowglobe world.

Glitter etched in untrodden snow, 

blankets earth. Sparkles from leftover

stardust settle like white confetti while flocked

boughs remain still as life wakens from a deep sleep.

I breathe in stilled-serenity,

like doses of medicinal bliss

cleansing my being,  and linger in 

the quiet of gray-sky blessings

to appreciate winter's embrace.

©CV, 2022

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"Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly  hand, and for talk beside the fireplace: it is a time for home." -Edith Sitwell, British poet

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