Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Is Winter Over Already?

Today it is a chilly 78 degrees in Southern California. As the rest of the nation is being hammered with cold and snow, I am starring at the thermometer on my patio whining that our cold, 60 degree, weather didn’t last long enough. I’m not saying that I want it to be blizzard like or so icy that I have to lift sheets of ice off my car windows only to skid and slide on that ice as I drive to my destination. However, I do miss the bundle up and curl up thoughts that come from cold weather and snow, and since we don’t have that weather here, I think wanting it to be 60 degrees in the middle of winter isn’t too much to ask.

My favorite poet, Billy Collins writes about what I like best about snow…

art

Snow Day by Billy Collins
Today we woke up to a revolution of snow,
its white flag waving over everything,
the landscape vanished,
not a single mouse to punctuate the blankness,
and beyond these windows
the government buildings smothered,
schools and libraries buried, the post office lost
under the noiseless drift,
the paths of trains softly blocked,
the world fallen under this falling.
In a while I will put on some boots
and step out like someone walking in water,
and the dog will porpoise through the drifts,
and I will shake a laden branch,
sending a cold shower down on us both.
But for now I am a willing prisoner in this house,
a sympathizer with the anarchic cause of snow.
I will make a pot of tea
and listen to the plastic radio on the counter,
as glad as anyone to hear the news
that the Kiddie Corner School is closed,
the Ding-Dong School, closed,
the All Aboard Children's School, closed,
the Hi-Ho Nursery School, closed,
along with -- some will be delighted to hear --
the Toadstool School, the Little School,
Little Sparrows Nursery School,
Little Stars Pre-School, Peas-and-Carrots Day School,
the Tom Thumb Child Center, all closed,
and -- clap your hands -- the Peanuts Play School.
So this is where the children hide all day,
These are the nests where they letter and draw,
where they put on their bright miniature jackets,
all darting and climbing and sliding,
all but the few girls whispering by the fence.
And now I am listening hard
in the grandiose silence of the snow,
trying to hear what those three girls are plotting,
what riot is afoot,
which small queen is about to be brought down.
art 002
GPP Street Team Crusade #36

I don’t miss the mess and frustrations of winter, but I do miss the feeling of a snowy day.

6a00d8341c6e6653ef012876a6d29b970c

22 comments:

  1. Kimberly - your winter is over? Sheesh....hardly the case here! Thanks for sharing your snowflake pages, and the poem....loving the Lucy quote :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love the poem, but I'll take 78 in January any time! =)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm going to CA in a couple of weeks and watch the weather turn cold. It's going into the teens here tonight. ugh

    ReplyDelete
  4. I keep getting confused between this post and the one on facebook.

    The coldest it should ever be is 70 degrees. Ever. But this attitude stems from growing up having to walk knee deep in gusty blizzards to and from school.

    When I relay this to the kids, when they complain about having to walk down the driveway in a slight drizzle in order to catch the bus, they assume that I am telling one of those grandpa stories about walking barefoot uphill both ways.

    But it is true. So true that I am scarred from the experiences. Trust me, nobody would like about having to wear bread bags over their socks.

    Nobody.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love your flakes! No, winter is NOT over, it is
    27˚ here and we might get real snow tonight. brrrrrr. Thank you for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  6. So glad to meet you through the Street Team! This is nice. Would love to see it up close. I would like some cooler temps here in L.A., myself! But I think we'll be getting our usual wet, cold spring...eventually!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I can't relate, but I would like to bundle up at least a little bit for a month or two.

    ReplyDelete
  8. 78 huh? Would you like to trade for the rest of your vacation? I'm sure our weather would make you feel much better as your snot freezes when you step outside. lol

    Here the Kindergartners go outside everyday in their snowpants as long as it's 20! Her teachers nuts!

    I never did the bread bags, but I did have to walk a few miles in snow up to my knees there and back. :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. I came here from Michelle's site - I LOVE YOUR PAGES!! I'm also envying your weather a little... it's still pretty frosty here in Winnipeg!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh. I am so totally jealous of 78 degrees. And when I say totally, I mean TOTALLY!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I feel like you about snow - missing it while simultaneously being glad I'm in L.A.

    That poem is wonderful. I love theline about the dog porpoising through the snow!

    ReplyDelete
  12. You should come here for a visit; it's cold, but not too cold.

    ReplyDelete
  13. In the Netherlands winter ain't over, we really had enough of it. Love your pages and the poem.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hello Kimberly,

    thanks for sharing your journal and poem !
    greetings from Belgium
    Inge

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thanks for the poem ! We still have plenty of winter left up here in New Hampshire !
    Your pages are beautifully winter icy blue !
    Cheers, Crusader !

    ReplyDelete
  16. Thank you for your comment on my blog. I live in Haarlem, that is near Amsterdam. In my youth I lived for a couple of years in Nijmegen. Nice to hear you visited!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Beautiful pages and I like the poem, too.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Great page, and an interesting poem. And I love the bookshelf widget thing you have btw; very cool.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I love your page too!

    Are you in San Diego? I don't think you missed winter this week.. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  20. I love the poetry - such a wonderful addition to your beautiful artwork.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Very nice. Billy Collins is one of my favorite poets!

    ReplyDelete