Distraction

It's not feeling like spring, but the mess in the yard was calling to be dealt with this morning. A Christmas tree that had been set out for the birds to enjoy - but not sure they ever did. A patio table covered with bird seed and bird poop. Stripped and yellowed kale stalks that had been a winter-long restaurant for neighbourhood bunnies. A barrel that had been wedged into the fence around the pond to prevent the neighbour's dogs from going for a swim and wrecking the lining. None of it pretty.

The air was crisp and all of the above tasks were easy to do.

And, then I got distracted.

Around 20 years ago, Lindsey gave us this beautiful terracotta bowl with Hellenic figures in relief around the outside. Around 10 years ago, I accidentally left it out all winter. oops! Terracotta and frost do not play well together. I decided to just leave it outside and watch it deteriorate over the years. This morning, it still had a function: holding geometric art.

So much for more cleaning up. Isn't it fascinating how ice forms? It looks like the ice is trying to spell something. Is that a stylized "R" or a "K"? Do you see an "N"? And, look at the fern-like formations along the bottom of the image. Amazing.

When Ted dug our ponds in the first Covid summer, he extended his digging fun by excavating what the grandkids call the river. The river always fills up in the spring. This morning, it was in its glory.

The artist in me loves the difference between the left side of the image below and the right side. The left is heavy on dark tones and the right is heavy on light tones. But, they both make you believe you are seeing ice.

I think this is my favourite image of the morning. There is so much to see. The icy formations seem to have expanded from the grassy stems. Sometimes they overlapped each other. they look like they have been painted with a hairy brush. And, then if you pay closer attention ..... look at the fine detail in the bottom right corner.

Distraction is a good thing. Beauty is fleeting. Especially icy beauty.

Breathe

‘She sat at the back and they said she was shy,

She led from the front and they hated her pride,

They asked her advice and then questioned her guidance,

They branded her loud, then were shocked by her silence,

When she shared no ambition they said it was sad,

So she told them her dreams and they said she was mad,

They told her they'd listen, then covered their ears,

And gave her a hug while they laughed at her fears,

And she listened to all of it thinking she should,

Be the girl they told her to be best as she could,

But one day she asked what was best for herself,

Instead of trying to please everyone else,

So she walked to the forest and stood with the trees,

She heard the wind whisper and dance with the leaves,

She spoke to the willow, the elm and the pine,

And she told them what she'd been told time after time,

She told them she felt she was never enough,

She was either too little or far far too much,

Too loud or too quiet, too fierce or too weak,

Too wise or too foolish, too bold or too meek,

Then she found a small clearing surrounded by firs,

And she stopped...and she heard what the trees said to her,

And she sat there for hours not wanting to leave,

For the forest said nothing, it just let her breathe.'

Becky Hemsley