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Mother Nature Waits Quietly For Her Guests To Arrive~

Bitterly cold, on this third day of January.

I dragged my ski pole through the snow, and watched as the snow gently wafted to the right.    The frigid northwest wind had the snow settling like granulated sugar. The air was bitterly cold, and dry, while the sun blinded me in that bright blue, blue sky.  

I had my scarf fastening tightly around my face.  My breath irritatingly hot, sweated up the inside of the scarf. I pulled the scarf down and took a deep breath of that subzero air. The intake of freezing air into my lungs hurt.  I regretted the move immediately and covered my mouth and nose.

Pheasant tracks, fresh, zigzagged ahead of me.   I caught up with the bird halfway to the back of the property. It turned to the south and ran underneath the fence and raced to the west.  Amused, I watched the bird clumsily hurry away. It had a grayish-beige body with a white ring around its neck and a dark sleek, purplish- black head. It leaped upward in an attempt to become air born. The pheasant rose nearly three feet off the ground, and pumped its wings hard and squeaked as it flew.  It sounded a lot like Uriah’s stuffed toy.

I watched the pheasant attempt to fly west. It plopped to the ground and disappeared behind a snow drift.

I continued on..

I stopped at the northeast end of the path. In that area I was slightly higher and more out in the open. Those gentle winds burned my cheeks and froze my eye lashes.

From this point, I could see where the water, only days before, had flooded the Bog Willows. The water underneath had dried up. The top of the water had frozen in place and connected to the lower branches of the trees.    

To me, it looked like someone had set up tables at a banquet hall.  There was space underneath the ice for chairs and the guest’s legs. The top of the ice was covered with a tablecloth of white crystals. In this frozen field, Mother Nature quietly waited for her guests to arrive…

With the wind at my face, my feet, and fingers and cheeks froze, painfully.  Reluctantly, I headed back home.

Somewhere above me a Hawk screamed.  I looked upward into that bright blue sky and I couldn’t find him…

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Picture from word clipart

12 replies on “Mother Nature Waits Quietly For Her Guests To Arrive~”

what wonderful imagery shhhh did u mean died or dried? if the latter it makes sense, to me anyway lol, loved the part were u said the squeak was like one of uriahs toys that tickled me lol, glad u stopped by to write another fabulous story, I have just this moment published my short story on my new short story blog, if u have some time, pls stop by…

take care….

ps, wheres the pheasant now? dont look behind u its probably there lol

william,
Thank you for catching that one. I changed it to ‘dried.’
The pheasant is running around in between my back section and my neighbors. You are right, he will be behind me…I hate getting startled, I scream like a girl.LOL!
I will copy out your story so I can read it in a comfy chair.
Gerardine

“The intake of freezing air into my lungs hurt. I regretted the move immediately and covered my mouth and nose.”

this part truly reminds me my own experiences trying to walk through heavy snow covered road under icy cold air…also, frozen toes, hands, fingers…wow, you are strong like an iron girl..yet your heart beats joyfully, your mind records everything in so that it flows out of your figure tips when you come back home and sit down beside a computer…

amazing capture of nature, dogs or animals and human together, that are having FUN discovering one another, despite the cruel coldness.

have pride in your work.

as always Gerardine, I love your writings. I read it to my girls, and they like listening to your posts, they say it’s a nice story they make up i their imagination.

have a wonderful new year hun!
hugs!!

Lily: what a wonderful idea – I’m so enjoying Gerardine’s fordays into her winter world but it hadn’t occurred to me to read it to children. I shall do so immediately! These are so beautiful and poignant and tender and make me yearn for a world I’ve left behind.

lily,
That is a wonderful complement. Tell your girls they can find the most interesting things in nature. Little birds will respond if they stand still and whistle to them.
I hope your new year will shine!
Gerardine

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