by elizabeth evans
Member since:
January 6, 2006

Howl

March 08, 2013 02:00 PM UTC (Updated: March 08, 2013 08:56 PM UTC)
views: 0 | 20 people recommend this | comments: 52

 

Howl


Howling, howling,

The wind moans mournfully,

Down the chimney,  unnerving the cat

Who scurries from the braided rug

Beside the river stone fireplace.

“Meow” she does howl as she leaps

on the table staring disheartenly

at the empty padded chair

where her Mate did once reside.



Howling, Howling,

The wind groans bleatingly as the

Shrill-shrieking gale blows.

One more blast of winter, first coming

From the south,  swirling around the Cape

Picking up a northern Arctic wind and curling

Inland with fury to where Pilgrims once lived.




Drat the “Man from Oz” who prayed unceasingly

To experience a magical New England winter of

Snow draped pines and tobogganing with glee.

Where is he now or should I not ask? Could he be

Out walking, listening to the "crunch" of each step?


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Missing in action from this winter wonderland,

 

 

 

 


Sipping a skinny flat white coffee on Cottesloe Beach.




All these pictures were taken on March 8, 2013.  Interesting to see the differences between the two places we call home.

Comments: 52

Pam Brittain Mar 8, 2013, 2:35pm UTC
You live in an awesome place. I'm cold now. Great post.
elizabeth evans Mar 8, 2013, 3:25pm UTC
I've been shoveling since early morn. The snow is heavy and perfect for snowmen making so I took a break and made the gentleman with the Ozzie hat.
Pam Brittain Mar 8, 2013, 5:28pm UTC
Yee-haw. All the pictures showed up this time. That lake's beautiful. You did fool me with the bird. I had to spend some time with it, trying to figure out how the feathers could be so perfect and black, centered in a white feathered bird.
Kathryn Flynn Mar 9, 2013, 3:09am UTC
yeah, we had about 15 inches. still snowed in the driveway, but it will melt enough tomorrow.
Pam Brittain Mar 9, 2013, 2:28pm UTC
Yesterday, we had rain and snow at the same time. That was eerie.
elizabeth evans Mar 9, 2013, 4:22pm UTC
Phew...driveway spotless. That was a job especially where the snow plows packed the frozen ice balls. Snowman is melting rapidly.....lost his Ozzie hat in the snow.
elizabeth evans Mar 9, 2013, 7:17pm UTC
I have a thing for blue herons. I have them throughout the house and inside.
Peter Joseph Swanson Mar 8, 2013, 2:38pm UTC
Cool post!
elizabeth evans Mar 8, 2013, 3:27pm UTC
Loved your post, Peter.....let's give a cheer....seems recovery might just be around the corner.
J. Reid Mar 8, 2013, 2:47pm UTC
Smiles...

Thank you for submitting to: Not Gathering Dust!
elizabeth evans Mar 8, 2013, 8:34pm UTC
Thanks for dropping by, Johnice. How much snow did Cambridge actually get?
Len Maxwell Mar 8, 2013, 2:55pm UTC
A beautiful photo-essay. I've said many times that I love looking at pictures of the snow. I sincerely hope the "Man from Oz" is enjoying his snow experience while lying on the beach.

Thanks for posting to the Wall of Sand and Snow on The Triple Name Club where it's now featured.
elizabeth evans Mar 8, 2013, 3:42pm UTC
Len, Mag was here for several big snowstorms....including the blizzard when we lost electricity for 4 days and we huddled under blankets. But he left for Oz February 19th. Temps were soaring in the high 90's as well as over 100 and I don't do well in that kind of heat so I made the decision to follow in March, never realizing more snow storms were on the way. I also had several "must-do's" before I left....like taxes and "downfall clean-ups". The yard was a mess with down limbs and pine boughs....so much so that for the first time living here, I actually hired someone to do it.

Snow is really pretty....but like the "Man from Oz", if you lived here you would soon know it's drawbacks. Shoveling wet, heavy snow, uncovering a shroud encased car, and driving on black ice is not fun. Come Tuesday, I will be more then ready to hop on the plane for that grueling 30 plus hours of flying. By next week-end, I, too, will be at Cottesloe Beach. Today started the annual art festival, "Sculpture on the Beach". Last year we attended and got great pictures.
Susan Budig - Mindful Poet Mar 8, 2013, 3:29pm UTC
The open body of water with snowy steps leading to it is the Atlantic?
elizabeth evans Mar 8, 2013, 3:47pm UTC
No, it's my little pond.....though Mag calls it a lake. Actually, the last of the ice just left us on Wednesday. Up until then it was frozen solid and one could enjoy ice fishing and skating.

As for the dock, Stephen Berwaldt constructed it last summer. The previous dock, built in '82, had a sad case of the droops.
Susan Budig - Mindful Poet Mar 8, 2013, 5:04pm UTC
You seem to know many Gatherites. Did you know Stephen from prior-to-Gather?
elizabeth evans Mar 8, 2013, 5:50pm UTC
No, I met Stephen on Gather several years ago. A year ago when he was working near Plymouth, he stopped by and had dinner with Mag and I. Last Spring when he was visiting, he noted that my dock had seen its last days and offered his expertise. In the summer, over the course of several days, he and his son Zach built me the new dock.
Susan Budig - Mindful Poet Mar 9, 2013, 12:17am UTC
Truly, I love how we connect with one another!
Chris Brockman Mar 8, 2013, 4:00pm UTC
Stunning photography (brrrr....) and felicitous commentary. Your suites are always a trip!
elizabeth evans Mar 8, 2013, 8:37pm UTC
Thanks for the compliment, Chris. (:
Granny Janny Mar 8, 2013, 6:53pm UTC
Of course, I can picture the whole scene having visited your wonderful place. How you have the energy to build a snowman and to shovel snow will never cease to amaze me. So glad to hear that you'll soon be warming up in Oz.
I love your poem in that it begins with a close up and then extends to the breadth and width of the storm. Now Featured on Poet's Weekly Muse
Warm hugs and Best Wishes for a safe trip. P.S. I love the snowy heron too!
elizabeth evans Mar 8, 2013, 8:42pm UTC
I can hardly wait. "Sculpture on the Beach" at Cottesloe started today and continues through the month of March so once again I can swim, enjoy art and take photographs all at the same time. Mag went "his today" and said he really enjoyed all the sculptures.

Thanks for the feature.
Sandi S. Mar 8, 2013, 7:02pm UTC
This was a spectacular post. Love, love, love the photos. A winter wonderland, a tropical beach, and white chocolate latte...what's not to love?
Sandi S. Mar 8, 2013, 7:02pm UTC
..wait...just scrolled back up. I am imagined the chocolate part. What is white coffee?

Still delightful.
elizabeth evans Mar 8, 2013, 8:43pm UTC
It's an Oz thing.....coffee with nonfat milk. Mag drinks it morning, noon and night.
JOHN BECK Mar 8, 2013, 7:04pm UTC
Both beautiful areas. I love four seasons.
elizabeth evans Mar 8, 2013, 8:49pm UTC
Like you, John, I do love the four seasons. Though I love summer best, spring, fall and winter have their place. Since Mag never experienced "real winter (oh yes, they have a season called winter but definitely can't compare to our cold), he easily develops cabin fever if he can't get out of the house.
lynn a. Mar 8, 2013, 7:10pm UTC
Bob, this is such a happy, wonderful post! Love the snowman. Love the bird. And your use of the words howl and howling. I think this is just fantastic. And soon you'll be with the man from Oz on that beach. Ain't life grand. Have a good trip.
elizabeth evans Mar 8, 2013, 8:50pm UTC
Life is grand, Lynn and soon it will be grander! (:
Loved everything about this ... the vivid poem, the beautiful photographs and the Aussie snowman. But I'm glad to be dethawing in the West Aussie sunshine.
elizabeth evans Mar 9, 2013, 5:35am UTC
I'm glad you are in the process of dethawing.....soon enough I will be, too.
You are arriving at the most opportune time ... the worst of the blistering heat is gone until next summer.
elizabeth evans Mar 10, 2013, 6:57am UTC
(:
Kathryn Flynn Mar 9, 2013, 3:09am UTC
I felt the chill just looking ab the photos. i think we got 15 inches.

i shoveled the car half out of the driveway, but it will melt enough tomororw.
elizabeth evans Mar 9, 2013, 5:43am UTC
I believe we may have gotten nine or ten inches here. But because of the pond effect, there were places where drifts were two feet high. Plus it was heavy snow as oppose to the fluffy stuff that isn't bad to shovel. At times like this, I wonder why I made the driveway so far from the house. Although I made a path to the car and cleaned it, I never got around to shoveling the four or five feet by the road. By the time I got down there, the snow plows had made a solid mountain of the snow.
Marilyn (PaintsOnSlate) S. Mar 9, 2013, 6:55am UTC
I've tried to comment twice, one last night and one this morning and both were thoughtful comments about your beautiful photos. I give up now - lets see if this one sticks
Marilyn (PaintsOnSlate) S. Mar 9, 2013, 6:56am UTC
And of course it did. My final thought about my love of snow was that your place is prettier then mine right now.
elizabeth evans Mar 9, 2013, 7:21pm UTC
I haven't posted anything since last summer and when I decided to do this, it was pure hell. At first I couldn't upload pictures....tried several different times. Frustrated I went out and shoveled some more. Then tried again....and it worked. I do hope they fix Gather so it becomes easier to post.
Marilyn (PaintsOnSlate) S. Mar 9, 2013, 8:11pm UTC
I am looking forward to your posts from OZ. Give Magi a kiss on the cheek from me.
elizabeth evans Mar 9, 2013, 8:25pm UTC
Will do.
stephen berwaldt Mar 9, 2013, 1:36pm UTC
I love this poem... f course, I am more familiar with your place than some...I have only seen it in the summer, but hot or cold, it is beautiful. I'm like you...I'll take cold over hot anytime. One can always add another blanket or anther layer of clothes to keep warm. Once you're naked, that's the coolest you're going to get! :)
Love the poem...and the photos...and your friendship. Thanks for all.

Thank you for submitting to Gathers Luminous Writers and Artists. Now Featured.
elizabeth evans Mar 9, 2013, 7:24pm UTC
One can always add another blanket or snuggle up to someone close. I always like the slower pace of winter when you don't feel guilty staying in your pj's all day and reading a good book by the fire.
Marilyn (PaintsOnSlate) S. Mar 9, 2013, 8:06pm UTC
Hubby and I try to get to the "Y" at least once a day Mon - Friday - we do different things but what ever we do is good for us - I will admit I love it when he says - you know the weather sucks today and I think we should stay home... yippeee....
Barbary C. Mar 9, 2013, 3:41pm UTC
Oooooooooh, you've given me a chill!

You know, Bob, in addition to being a first-class photographer, you are a very good writer. I always enjoy reading your posts.
elizabeth evans Mar 9, 2013, 7:28pm UTC
Ohhhhh, it was cold. That wind off the pond just was brutal. I shoveled in ski pants, down parks and Magi's fur lined pilot hat. I'm sure I looked quite hysterical. Today I finished up but I had some help from my cousin and his partner.
August Lady Mar 9, 2013, 7:39pm UTC
A delightful photo essay, in spite of the snow & the amount of havoc its wreaked in our neck of the woods(MA) in the past month~your pics are just beautiful!
elizabeth evans Mar 9, 2013, 8:12pm UTC
...and they predicted it was just going to be a small storm. Right. I'm finally dug out. Thank God. Took a ride along the coast today....unbelievable destruction.
August Lady Mar 9, 2013, 9:41pm UTC
I heard 1 weather guy apologize (Ch. 4, I think), but they all gotta be chagrined over this 1!
Sherrie H. Mar 16, 2013, 4:30pm UTC
I loved each snowy photo, while rejoicing that I did not have to shovel it. We have plenty here. Great surprise at the end. I like the poem, too. What a wonderful sense of place and history.
M. Bradley McCauley Mar 17, 2013, 7:01am UTC
Shivered with the cold and the delight reading this extremely well done post. Good job.
Shelbia C. Mar 19, 2013, 9:12pm UTC
Great poem and photos
Audrey Howitt Mar 21, 2013, 12:04pm UTC
Such a great piece--and the photos --well it looks really cold outside.

Join the Conversation
Chime in! Become a Gather member to comment.
Already a member? Sign in
top
 
Gather | Friends | Groups | Share
About Gather | Engagement Marketing | Gather Points | Advertise on Gather | Gather Press | Privacy | Terms of Service | Community Guidelines
Books | Business | Celebs | Entertainment | Family | Food | Giveaways | Health | Money | Moms | News | Politics | Sports | Style | Technology | Travel | Writing
Version 18247, "Zach"; Copyright © 2013 Gather Inc. All rights reserved.