as the season darkens

into winter,
 there is still light
 a flash of white in sunlit grasses
 and tess appears!
 not far from the place where i spotted a kingfisher 
several times, but
didn't see this day, probably gone south.
 we see ducks here, too.
 which tess ignores. 
i mean, there could be grouse close by so--off she goes.
 in the corner closest to my little garden between the granite ledges
 paper wasps were practicing their craft.
this is BIG.
 raccoon activity along the road
 and i've taken to talking back to these ravens
who gather nearby and quark loudly, 
as teenagers do.
there were seven yesterday.
i'd rather embarrass myself by quarking,
 trying out conversation
than take photos, 
so i didn't get all seven.
 popple/aspen and a trace.
 and it's gotten very very cold. 
in the single digits yesterday morning.

 neighborhood barn
 in front of which 
a plenty of high bush cranberries.
quite a crop.
but they're my neighbor's, 
not mine.
before the snow
it was clear and very cold.
and then it came
freezing everyone right up into little balls or broken pieces
but i love the cold
love how it makes me attend to its demands.
even though i do whine about it from time to time.
snow is expected again.
and the last of the sumac leaves here are gone. 
one branch broke completely
showing sumac's fragile heart.
stay warm and well and creative.
and the sumac?
it was in the pot today and the prints are drying.

winter break

so many pages
create a garden of color and shape.
and therese sent me her experiments
with that amazing fiber
hemp
which looks like air, but feels like
well, i'll leave that to your imagination
so i have also been playing with 
shapes as pages fall together
i do get out some
for years this small building has been
one of my absolute favoites 
in the north country
it's very satisfying
and these beings
live on the same farm
this barn foundation is huge
i love it,
i could imagine planning
and caring for 
many many animals.
how changed my life 
if that were me.
turkeys eat sumac now
one of the few available feeds,
near a stretch of road where the road crew
mowed down the entire stretch of very large shrubs. 
and in this deep extended stretch of cold
they are eating the
lemon scented furry berries
which stain my fingers
this break.
 on some days brilliance breaks your heart
and indoors
a new pigment 
stains my fingers
and some hosta paper
ochre, hosta
ochre, fern magic
the ochres are from the same road cut
the hosta from my plants.
the first book from the winters
contact prints
bound overnight in silk
a little piece left over from beautiful silks
a gift from marion.
milkweed kigami
and a weak winter sun
working muscles to make
more of us a wee bit happier.