#SOL22 March Musings Day 26: Winter In Spring

Cherry blossom trees are always the stars of the season in Washington, DC. 

Photos of a beautiful cherry blossom tree In January during winter and March 21st in spring.

-Kevin Ambrose, The Washington Post

With full anticipation of seeing the gorgeous display in the Tidal Basin, I sat in front of my young weeping cherry blossom tree contemplating how beautiful it looked even without full blossoms. Then, today while completing errands, an unexpected rainstorm blew in. A sudden sleet storm followed with swooshing winds and cold air. I thought of my little weeping cherry blossom tree shivering in my backyard and wondered if it and the trees in the Tidal Basin will continue to bloom.

Winter in Spring

©CV, 2022, Virginia

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Thank you Two Writing Teachers for this daily meeting place to connect with a community of reflective writers. 

Spring Salutations with an Invitation to Write

It's the end of April, a time of renewal. Showers fall gently awakening flowers. Earth comes alive after the chill of winter and a unique weather phenomenon, #winterinspring. 

daybreak dusting

early morning surprise-

winter in april

Photo and Poem by Spiri Howard

Now at the end of April, #winterinspring has moved on, allowing springtime the space to restore life. Traditional April showers greet Long Island in between sunny days of warmer weather. Poets continue to write #poetryliciouspoetry as National Poetry Month draws to a close. The Northeast where I live craves color and warmth.

Laura Hill Timpanaro

It is time to dig deep into our soul to bloom and become a troubadour of nature. It is time to feel earth's call to action, engage your senses, re-energize your spirit, and restore a colorful lens to everyday life. 

CALL TO ACTION

As the earth salutes spring, I invite all to capture the beauty of the season with all five senses. Paint a canvas fresh with deep verdant green colors accented by a rainbow of florals. Light up a gallery of artistic expressions with nature photograph, artwork, poetry, inspirational thoughts, and music. 

Let's capture the renewal of life this spring and

send a myriad of artistic expressions

out into the universe.

Sense-sational Spring Gallery Awaits Your Offerings!

HOW TO ENGAGE IN THIS CHALLENGE
Be creative. Capture the splendors of springtime in a variety of ways:

• Image poems - Superimpose an original poem on an image using a photo editing tool, like PicMonkey, FotoJet, or Canva
• Audio reading of an original poem using SoundCloud, etc.
• Collage, scrapbook art 
• Original inspirational quote or one from a poet or philosopher that is superimposed on a photo 
• Original nature photography in a picture postcard format
• Original artwork (any format)
• Playlist of springtime music linked to the songs or instrumental score
• A Buncee using the Buncee platform
• Video poem using iMovie, Animoto, or Magisto
• Short videos

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

All submissions must:

• Have your name and locale at the bottom
• Be sized to 450 pixels in a jpeg or png format
• Be sent to #Sense_sationalSpring and @cvarsalona at Twitter or cvarsalona at gmail.com with the subject being Sense-sational Spring Gallery Offering

Deadline for Submission: May 31, 2018

Still Not Sure How to Begin: You can refer to last year's spring gallery of artistic expressions, Springsations, here to find mentor texts.

WANTED:

Student Voice for Sense-sational Spring Gallery

Please encourage your class and/or students to engage in this creative writing challenge that will amplify their voices and showcase their artistic talents. 

This invitation extends the experience of writing poetry beyond National Poetry Month because poetry is a YEAR-ROUND endeavor of creative expression. The challenge is full of choice options to amplify voice and integrates the arts, technology, and literacy. Have fun creating poetryliscious poetry.  the Poetry Friday Round-up with ARTSPEAK! Harlem Renaissance "Poems Come Lately"

 

Today, the Poetry Friday Round-up with ARTSPEAK! Harlem Renaissance "Poems Come Lately" by Irene Latham, children's book author and amazing poet is at Irene's blog site Live Your Poem.

Thank you to the Poetry Friday poets whose talented work graced the halls of my recently released Winter Wonderland Gallery of Artistic Expressions that can be found here. 

#Winterinspring Continues

Monday Morning

Sunshine meets morning. 

Weather report breaks through. 
"It may look like a spring day 
But it's really more like a
Warm February or early March day."
Out the door to yoga class-
Jacket and hat in hand. 
Brr-37 degrees-
Chill in the air!
Rush, rush to class.
Ah, studio warmth!
Leaving feeling refreshed.
See an open-top convertible
pass on by-
Man in a winter hat
Enjoying a brisk ride.
It takes all kinds
to live life to its fullest!
#Winterinspring smiles.
@CV, 2018

Poetry Slice

for

Two Writing Teachers

#NPM18

Celebrate #SixWordSunday

Professional and personal writing envelop me.

My grandbaby knows how to wave.

Snow passed us by; #winterinspring remains.

Poetic voices soar on Twitter Monday.

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I celebrate #SixWordSunday with a short visual entry for #NPM18 and #celebratelu, the Celebrate This Week writing community hosted by Ruth Ayres.

Stay tuned for the unveiling of Winter Wonderland Gallery.

NPM 2018: #winterinspring

For those who are familiar with this year's changing weather patterns in New York State, you will not be surprised at this bit of interesting information.  On Easter Monday, Lady Winter dropped in on Long Island leaving her calling card, but left no traces of snow in Syracuse where I was visiting my sister for our family's Easter gathering.  Then, on Tuesday, as we traveled back to Long Island, pelting rains and grey skies followed us all the way home. There was a chill in the air, reminding me that winter was making its presence known in the early days of spring.

Just when spring seems to be in the air
and the forsythia starts to bloom,
#winterinspring knocks on the door
of earth's soon-to-be snowy room.
©CV, 2018

⛄

Does this give you a hint at what is coming soon to Long Island? If you guessed snow, you are correct. I created the hashtag, #winterinspring, because of changing weather patterns here on Long Island. While some are dismayed, I am enjoying the weather play that has provided me with rich content for my poetry writing this month. Of course, the #winterinspring motif is also a great backdrop for me while I continue to design my global winter gallery of artistic expressions, Winter Wonderland. Stay tuned for the gallery's grand opening during National Poetry Month. 

Speaking of National Poetry Month, please join me this Monday night at 8 p.m. EST for an amazing Twitter chat with #NYEDChat and #WonderChat as we explore "Poetry Is for Everyone" with my guest moderator poet friends, Irene Latham, Laura Purdie Salas, and Charles Waters. John MacLeod from Wonderopolis will moderate with me and send out each question we have designed during the chat. Here is your sneak peak.

Today I join Amy Ludwig VanDerwater at The Poem Farm for Poetry Friday where she is celebrating National Poetry Month with her "1 Subject 30 Ways" poem project. 

Special Thanks to Jama Rattigan for mention in her comprehensive National Poetry Month happenings' post that you can find here.