Winter
Black branches brushing
against gray and cloudless skies
paint a winter day
--Maggie English
By now, it's no surprise to anyone
that cold mornings in February do not rank high on my list of life's pleasures.
I am always reluctant to leave my warm bed,
which I've completely melted into,
by the time the appointed hour for getting up arrives.
Often, the light comes up but seemingly not the sun,
for the sky appears several shades of slate above an ivory white horizon.
I would welcome such a palette elsewhere,
but spread across the sky, it feels dreary.
photo courtesy of morguefile.com
I've always been slow to wake up,
so I usually pour a cup of coffee and sit for a while to stare out the window.
There are a few birds at the feeders to look at: warblers, finches, doves,
and chickadees that flit to and fro, as if they have many important tasks to do
and just don't know where they'll find the time.
And often in early February, there are juncos--
a sure sign to me that winter weather is outside.
photo courtesy of morguefile.com
The chill breeze makes the chimes ring,
and the pinwheel I bought to remind me of my dad's love of wind toys
spins and turns in the winter breeze, a blur of silver and blue.
Squirrels nosing around in the barren flower pots threaten to push the pinwheel aside,
but it stands firm against their digging paws.
I browse the internet for something interesting about February 5th.
Searches reveal that February 5th
is a kind of a no-man's land of commemoration.
Abraham Lincoln's mother Nancy was born this day.
Enrico Caruso recorded "O Solo Mio" in 1916,
noteworthy for the exciting new technology for recording sound.
image from en.wikipedia.org
And it's National Weatherperson Day,
designated so because February 5th is the birthday of John Jefffries,
a Boston physician who began recording daily observations about the weather in 1774.
Later, he went up about 6,000 feet in a hot air balloon to take readings.
That's a man that loves weather.
Read more about John Jeffries here:
And Happy February 5th, however it's celebrated.
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