the wind howled and the rain sheeted down

and the morning needed more than a strong cup of coffee to clear its bleary head.

foggy morning

with mist rising off the snow

do angels

feel the cold?

it's been bitter cold up here in brattleboro

i saw this little one when i turned the corner,

everything but her eyeballs bundled up

in the minutes it took to pass her she never budged from this spot.

let's come in from the cold for a moment

and visit the local music store

 Turn It Up!

on elliot street

come walk with me in

the purple dawn 

we won't say a word.

light on the morning after a storm

has a slow, particular sound,

like a mother gently crooning her baby from sleep to waking.

stiff fingers

lift in supplication,

pleading for a warming

(brattleboro retreat)

ice fishing

is not a sport for the weak.

(the highs for the remainder of this week are predicted to remain under 10 degrees f...out on the meadows with nothing breaking the wind it will feel far, far colder. stay safe mr. fisherman.)

heading south down route 30

the two lane road wraps a reassuring arm around the retreat meadows before rising to greet the edge of town.

the retreat farm dozed in the early morning

under its downy linens.

with the snow still falling, before the sidewalk plow arrived,

three gazelle-legged girls set out on a neighborhood adventure

snow fell

and the ducks paddled earnestly down the icy brook,

flakes settling like cold kisses on their feathery backs

during the storm all sound was muted

if the bell rang in the steeple

 no one heard,

we were all sleep-walking through curtains of gray

extreme skateboarding

do not try this at home

(thanks for your doghouse comments yesterday...today i've been out shooting dozens of new snow photos.

 my last few images were taken during our january thaw earlier this week, before yesterday's gorgeous snowstorm) 

when you're in the dog house

what do you like to have in there with you?

when fog gives way

and blue sky presses its pert nose through the clouds,

brattleboro transforms into the stuff of storybooks.

ever since baby brattcat's departure,

brattcat's brattcat has been grieving, sleeping on baby brattcat's bedspread and listening for her voice in the front hall. 

what comes down

must go back up

(but don't you think the hard work of climbing back up the hill increases the pleasure of zooming down again?)

feeling ever so much better today...thank you for your healing wishes

mr. brattcat, baby brattcat, and her englishman

flew down the hill at living memorial park on our ancient toboggan a few days ago

(before war was declared in my stomach)

this is the way my stomach feels

hope none of you

succumb to the flu.

some eager beaver

came so close to felling this tree.

unfortunately he didn't notice the embracing arms of another tree downhill,

waiting to catch the girdled tree in its limbs.

snowshoers, cross-country skiers, and intrepid walkers

follow narrow paths

through snow-swaddled woods

ski jumping

while hiking in the snowy woods 

one comes upon such wondrous things

(part of the harris hill ski jump, brattleboro, vermont)

always be polite to a penguin

this little guy took up residence on oak street back in november.

he rarely stays in the same spot for very long and i'm often surprised to find him watching from a slightly different post...

it seems to me he's been embedded to observe the goings-on in the neighborhood.

i always nod to him as i pass. 

minty cool

in a white landscape,

such splashes of color delight every sense.

wells fountain in winter

 this fountain serves as a background for rallies and parades,

glows annually with the winter carnival torch,

goes all atwitter with birds in spring and summer.

(it's covered now because winter temperatures in brattleboro are far too cold for bubbling fountains)

using up scrap yarn

over the holiday my daughter helped me sort my yarn stash and all the little bits and bobs ended up in a wicker basket, begging to become whimsical, wildly-colored dolls.

are you also compelled to use up bits of leftover things?

happy new year...favorite image from 2012

this was taken in january of 2012 when winter dawdled

bringing fog instead of snow.

thank you for your patience with me as i vanished periodically through 2012. 

wishing you all a grand and glorious 2013