Appreciate Snowfall Hush!

As the snow settles, I sit by the fire listening to the silence of winter hush. Trees dipped in snow-like crystals and candlelights aglow add a cozy ambiance to the indoor scene I created.  Looking outward through the dual fireplace, I revel in the beauty of fallen snow asleep in hiemal slumber. I search YouTube and find a soothing video, Winter Solace, that adds to the ambiance. Meditative music floats through the air as I read a thought to ponder: 

"It's time to appreciate the simple, yet profound beauty of a snowy landscape." 

I wonder and write, calling up my 2022 one little word, appreciate.

seasonal solace

powdered confection and frost

stilled apricity

feel the gentle warmth of sun

appreciate winter's peace

©CVarsalona, 2022

Have you thought about the soundless pattern of falling snow? May Novala Takemoto's beautiful quote, "Snow falling soundlessly in the middle of the night will always fill my heart with sweet clarity," bring you solace. 

My Slice of Life

for

Two Writing Teachers

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

Snow! - March Musings '19/#SOL19/Day3

It came upon an evening clear

with its purpose to adhere.

There was no announcement, no fuss

but its intention to discuss. 

Shocked by the fluffy, billowy stuff

I waited for a rebuff.

Perhaps a task to shovel away

white beauty this Saturday? 

"No way," he emphatically said.

And so the saga of nature's gift

waits quietly for man's snow shift.

©CV, 2019 

Winter's Embrace

Afterthought: The sun came out, just like my husband said, so he did not have to take a snow shift.  

Equation Poem: (poetic form created by Laura Purdie Salas)
Gray day + below freezing temperature = snow 
Snow - freezing temperature + sun = nature's snow removal

⛄

I am now ready to join the #SOL19 community for the March 12th Annual Slice of Life Story Challenge Day 3 created by Two Writing Teachers!

 
3/31

3rd Snowfall

Snow is a seasonal pleasure when it first falls. On Long Island, we expect snow in winter but this year, the marshmallow world sight appeared early, in late fall. As snowfall #3 came this weekend, Long Island news repeatedly reported it as the one week earlier to the official start of winter happening.

With the hurried pace of the holiday season and another busy weekend passing, I turn my thoughts to snow poetry, recalling dainty white flakes that descended during the three snowfalls. In between decorating and entertaining, I creatively captured the falling snow as a harbinger of winter. 

Snowfall #1

Mentor Text:  

Snow  by Frederick Seidel

Snow is what it does.

It falls and it stays and it goes.

It melts and it is here somewhere.

We all will get there. 

Seidel's poem is simple in its presentation and language but complex in meaning. I pondered what Seidel meant with his precise wording. Words like fall, stays, and goes stood out. I questioned was the poem about the cyclical nature of the season or the cycle of life?

When the third snowfall tiptoed in on on the heels of number two, I realized that Mother Nature was readying Long Island for the next season and so I wrote.

Snowfall
Snow is a dancing gypsy,
falling in a pattern of gentle
movement from here to there.
It sparkles in its descent,
tiptoeing across lawns, searching
for a place to stay and blanket earth
with mounds of marshmallow puffs.
©CV, 2017

As quickly as it enters and makes its mark,

snow, like the tumbleweed, moves on in a

rhythmic pattern of nature's passing time.

©CV, 2017

Looking at the above image of snowfall #3,

I realized that life does indeed move on 

but I must pause to savor the beauty

that falls before my eyes.

 

Find time to savor life living moments
that fill your heart with joy!

It is hard to believe that another weekend passed and in only one more week Christmas is here. With all good intentions, I planned to send this post early to my Poetry Friday colleague, Diane Mayr, but alas, I am late to the Poetry Friday party. You can join me at Diane's site for the poetry roundup.  

For those waiting for the unveiling of my Autumn Ablaze Gallery, it is still in the drafting stage and will be released soon.