Wintry Circuit

Between the snows, the winter earth is bare 

Its fleeting beauty shifted to the skies

Where Plieades blushes at a candid stare   

But casts her splendor on averted eyes.

The moon is briefly just a crooked smile

Content to share its glory with the stars

Then swells to take the spotlight for awhile

Until it rises waning under Mars.

Now dawn is gray; the stars have lost their shine

Cloud cloaked, the radiant moon has vanished   

Flakes fall and drift and make the land benign    

And take the stage until the snow is banished.  




About the photo: The moon was added in Photoshop, but it is about how I remembered it.  
This isn't intended for scientific accuracy, but instead, to illustrate the poem.


Linking with Skywatch Friday

Long Run

Click on photo for a larger view.

There are a lot of extraordinary birds around here, but the roadrunners are in a class of their own. We're on the northern edge of their range, and we don't see them often, but occasionally one will go sprinting through the yard.  It seems they'd rather run than fly.

A few summers ago, there was a roadrunner at Don's office for four days.  Most of the bird's time was spent in front of the glass door, admiring his spiky hair and wild yellow eyes, and when visitors would come, the bird would run off with a growl.  He didn't seem at all frightened, just disgruntled that someone was disturbing his mirror time.

We saw the one pictured about a week ago on a balmy afternoon.  I've thought about him since then on frigid nights, and hope he's found a warm shelter.  Alternately, he could go south, but in this winter of crazy weather, it would be a long run from here to a warmer climate.

Then again, maybe they do this once every four years, sorta like a Roadrunner Olympics.

Linking with Camera Critters
Wild Bird Wednesday

Cracker

 

Every barn needs a cat or two, and the really good ones have a dog, too.  

At a nearby farm, Cracker, the Border Collie, is quite sure she is queen, 

and the ancient barn is her castle.  

She bosses the cats around, and keeps a steely eye on visitors.

Where sunlight slants through the barn slats and stripes the floor, 

Cracker watches from the doorway. 

It was only after I saw this photo that I realized she was in the barn with me, 

watching for any false move.  

Yikes!

Then again, just possibly, 

she was hoping for another one of those peanut butter treats

that unlock the door of her heart.





Linking with Camera Critters
Saturday's Critters
Rurality Blog Hop

Promise

Outside yesterday, after a stretch of ice and bitter cold, a little green caught my eye.  

I moved some dead leaves, and there, sure enough, 

a few snowdrops were pushing out of the soil.

It reminded me that even in the deepest cold, spring is getting ready.

There's an ancient promise God made to Noah:

As long as the earth endures,

seedtime and harvest,

cold and heat,

summer and winter,

day and night will never cease.

Genesis 8:22

The bluebirds seem to know this.  

They were in the birdbath, lifting their heads in praise with every swallow.

Linking with Wild Bird Wednesday
Little Things Thursday