Nesting Time!
The robins and the doves
have one thing on their minds:
building the perfect nest
NOW!
Twigs and straws
pieces of grass and weeds
carried in beaks announce
a spot has been chosen
selected in very particular places
Fascinating the design, the process
that each species seems to know
that temporary home so necessary
to hold the eggs, the chicks
With the whole farm theirs
they flutter about and pick and choose
some liking buildings, some liking trees
some selecting spots up high
some selecting close to our house
Some seem oblivious
of the danger cats present
building too low, or easily accessible
But then, cats can be amazing
balance impressive
as they do high wire acts
to gain a meal.
have one thing on their minds:
building the perfect nest
NOW!
Twigs and straws
pieces of grass and weeds
carried in beaks announce
a spot has been chosen
selected in very particular places
Fascinating the design, the process
that each species seems to know
that temporary home so necessary
to hold the eggs, the chicks
With the whole farm theirs
they flutter about and pick and choose
some liking buildings, some liking trees
some selecting spots up high
some selecting close to our house
Some seem oblivious
of the danger cats present
building too low, or easily accessible
But then, cats can be amazing
balance impressive
as they do high wire acts
to gain a meal.
Robins and doves
sparrows and wrens
pigeons and starlings
the list is pages
diversity sustained
we have our picture books
to help us I.D. them all
Driven is putting it mildly
they build their nests
and settle in
No books, no doctors to guide them
they just somehow know
eggs are coming
chicks will hatch
and grow
and fly away
Whoa! Slow down…
sit back
reflect
“His eye is on the sparrow…
I know He watches me”.
Selah, Lin 4/2014
sparrows and wrens
pigeons and starlings
the list is pages
diversity sustained
we have our picture books
to help us I.D. them all
Driven is putting it mildly
they build their nests
and settle in
No books, no doctors to guide them
they just somehow know
eggs are coming
chicks will hatch
and grow
and fly away
Whoa! Slow down…
sit back
reflect
“His eye is on the sparrow…
I know He watches me”.
Selah, Lin 4/2014
Holy Week
Looking back on half a century
and the time and season of planting
I can bear witness, I think
to something said to me back at the beginning:
“Holy Week the weather’s always troublesome!”
How about 48 out of 50?
That’s how often I wanted to plant
but weather intervened.
This year’s no exception!
Cold front. Rain. Dark.
Okay, Palm Sunday maybe better,
but then it falls apart.
No way tiny seeds
would like to be ensconced
in cold wet soil.
Wait! Anticipate!
Easter is coming!
How fitting,
I think,
that weather often helps us
sort through our plans, our efforts
to give us a lesson (another)
on how small we are
how dependent on larger ‘things’!
So we trudge through the week
machinery all captured
behind closed doors
and we think.
and the time and season of planting
I can bear witness, I think
to something said to me back at the beginning:
“Holy Week the weather’s always troublesome!”
How about 48 out of 50?
That’s how often I wanted to plant
but weather intervened.
This year’s no exception!
Cold front. Rain. Dark.
Okay, Palm Sunday maybe better,
but then it falls apart.
No way tiny seeds
would like to be ensconced
in cold wet soil.
Wait! Anticipate!
Easter is coming!
How fitting,
I think,
that weather often helps us
sort through our plans, our efforts
to give us a lesson (another)
on how small we are
how dependent on larger ‘things’!
So we trudge through the week
machinery all captured
behind closed doors
and we think.
Shouting, happy crowds
Hosanna! Hosanna!
The whole world is singing
but then the world turns
and evil pours out
flooding the same streets with anger
Revulsion
One man, the focus
Lies. False accusations. Weak leaders.
Claiming great power:
“Don’t you know I have the power of life and death over you?”
The quiet man speaks:
“You have no power, except that given you from above.”
At another point
a rooster crows,
and the quiet man looks…at his disciple.
Oh, how often, eyes can lock between persons
and volumes are shared
without words being spoken
It’s Friday
but Sunday’s coming….
Selah, Lin 2014
Hosanna! Hosanna!
The whole world is singing
but then the world turns
and evil pours out
flooding the same streets with anger
Revulsion
One man, the focus
Lies. False accusations. Weak leaders.
Claiming great power:
“Don’t you know I have the power of life and death over you?”
The quiet man speaks:
“You have no power, except that given you from above.”
At another point
a rooster crows,
and the quiet man looks…at his disciple.
Oh, how often, eyes can lock between persons
and volumes are shared
without words being spoken
It’s Friday
but Sunday’s coming….
Selah, Lin 2014
Snow Birds
As sure as the snow flies
in northern climes
The snow birds flap their wings
or mount their wheels
to head to southern beaches
in northern climes
The snow birds flap their wings
or mount their wheels
to head to southern beaches
Their money flows with them
restaurants and shops
hotels and motels and rentals
lift their signs:
“No Vacancy!”
The cold weary folks
shed their parkas
insulated caps, boots and mittens
toss off shirts and don shorts
swapping suits and ties for swimming suits
skin gets into the game
strangely
with gals in bikinis…
and guys in Bermudas!
What gives?
Quiet streets get overloaded, jammed
with cars bearing northern plates
single lane bridges sprout long car snakes
of inchworm traffic
with cars bearing northern plates
single lane bridges sprout long car snakes
of inchworm traffic
It is but for a day, a week
and they fly away, motor away
back to the cold and dreary
Selah, Lin 3/2014
244
Dancing with the Soil, Seasons, and Nature
It is written
that we came from the soil
dust of some nature
shaped into the form of man
No wonder, then,
there’s something about soil, that draws us
farmers and gardeners who use their hands
to touch, ponder, the mysteries of soil
The seasons are a wonder too
stretching our imaginations
challenging our capacities
with heat, cold, wind, rain
Parching plants and people
in August heat, the sun
almost cooks us
then fall drowns us in color
as leaves shout their warnings of winter
IT”S COMING!
Push the panic button
to store up food
to seal the doors and windows
against arctic blasts, snow and ice
Then, mixed with our exhaustion and depression,
buds begin to swell
robins appear again
pre dawn concerts alert and encourage us
that winter’s hold is slipping, and
in spite of a last flurry or two,
the grass is greening and spring is springing
that we came from the soil
dust of some nature
shaped into the form of man
No wonder, then,
there’s something about soil, that draws us
farmers and gardeners who use their hands
to touch, ponder, the mysteries of soil
The seasons are a wonder too
stretching our imaginations
challenging our capacities
with heat, cold, wind, rain
Parching plants and people
in August heat, the sun
almost cooks us
then fall drowns us in color
as leaves shout their warnings of winter
IT”S COMING!
Push the panic button
to store up food
to seal the doors and windows
against arctic blasts, snow and ice
Then, mixed with our exhaustion and depression,
buds begin to swell
robins appear again
pre dawn concerts alert and encourage us
that winter’s hold is slipping, and
in spite of a last flurry or two,
the grass is greening and spring is springing
In all these changes we have wind
and more wind
sometimes scourging in angry swirls
ripping trees and houses
slamming cars and trucks, smashing
and sometimes gently cooling us
Oh yes, the soil and seasons command us
“Be still”, spoken once to the winds and waves,
commanded Nature, but we
are left to study, discover, alter
tiny pieces to our pleasure
Each discovery finding more
another level, hidden til then,
but there, all the time.
Wise are we
to bow, to ask,
“May I have this dance?”
It was created, gifted to us,
for our use
We’ve learned so much
know so little
the dance has just begun
Selah,
Lin Almost spring, 2014
and more wind
sometimes scourging in angry swirls
ripping trees and houses
slamming cars and trucks, smashing
and sometimes gently cooling us
Oh yes, the soil and seasons command us
“Be still”, spoken once to the winds and waves,
commanded Nature, but we
are left to study, discover, alter
tiny pieces to our pleasure
Each discovery finding more
another level, hidden til then,
but there, all the time.
Wise are we
to bow, to ask,
“May I have this dance?”
It was created, gifted to us,
for our use
We’ve learned so much
know so little
the dance has just begun
Selah,
Lin Almost spring, 2014
April Winds
Chilled, from deep winter’s freeze
the winds whosh and whistle
sending leaves and debris hip scotching along
barren branches twist and turn
remembering Chubby Checker!
(C’mon everybody, let’s do the twist!)
Wrapped against the chill
I freeze out in the wind
and melt in sun drenched lee spots
Cold, hot! Cold, hot!
It’s springtime on the prairie!
The winter browned grass is waking
steadily climbing through the thatch
it’s green green green coming!
Buds are swelling,
so tender yet so strong
life will soon burst
into the magnificance of Easter
Color will splash the earth
and mother earth will open
to welcome the seeds of promise
the winds whosh and whistle
sending leaves and debris hip scotching along
barren branches twist and turn
remembering Chubby Checker!
(C’mon everybody, let’s do the twist!)
Wrapped against the chill
I freeze out in the wind
and melt in sun drenched lee spots
Cold, hot! Cold, hot!
It’s springtime on the prairie!
The winter browned grass is waking
steadily climbing through the thatch
it’s green green green coming!
Buds are swelling,
so tender yet so strong
life will soon burst
into the magnificance of Easter
Color will splash the earth
and mother earth will open
to welcome the seeds of promise
I can’t but help wondering
if winter gets piled up somewhere
far and farther to the East
where the April winds blow it
Is it a giant earth game
where seasons hide and seek
to suddenly shout “You’re it!”
While governments muddle and stumble
the powers above us move
surety abounding
we can but respond
amend our plans as needed
to tune ourselves
to play in the orchestra
so small a part
so small our voice
Yet, together
our tiny voices can sail
singing with the winds
soaking in the sun
seeing and drinking in the seasons
we set our sails…
Hosanna!
Lin 4/2014
if winter gets piled up somewhere
far and farther to the East
where the April winds blow it
Is it a giant earth game
where seasons hide and seek
to suddenly shout “You’re it!”
While governments muddle and stumble
the powers above us move
surety abounding
we can but respond
amend our plans as needed
to tune ourselves
to play in the orchestra
so small a part
so small our voice
Yet, together
our tiny voices can sail
singing with the winds
soaking in the sun
seeing and drinking in the seasons
we set our sails…
Hosanna!
Lin 4/2014
Howling Winter
A pinhole or a crack
is all the howling wind needs
to send snowflakes sailing in
Blizzard
Whiteout
Hour after hour
Snow swirls and drifts
sculptured piles arise
packed hard and firm
challenging man and beast
In grandma’s day the drifts
topped fences
so the cattle walked over them
as did she and her siblings
The one room schoolhouse
with the wood stove in center
was open all winter
Summer was for field work
is all the howling wind needs
to send snowflakes sailing in
Blizzard
Whiteout
Hour after hour
Snow swirls and drifts
sculptured piles arise
packed hard and firm
challenging man and beast
In grandma’s day the drifts
topped fences
so the cattle walked over them
as did she and her siblings
The one room schoolhouse
with the wood stove in center
was open all winter
Summer was for field work
Hard to image her folks
first winter on the prairie
living in a lean to…til spring.
Great grandpa took a sled
four miles southwest
sawmill on the river
brought boards back to the farm
to build a house the next summer
We’ve been building ever since
and the wind still blows
and the snow comes
Still, we have howling winter
and we hunker down
But we are warm…
Thank you Lord…
January, 2014, Lin
first winter on the prairie
living in a lean to…til spring.
Great grandpa took a sled
four miles southwest
sawmill on the river
brought boards back to the farm
to build a house the next summer
We’ve been building ever since
and the wind still blows
and the snow comes
Still, we have howling winter
and we hunker down
But we are warm…
Thank you Lord…
January, 2014, Lin