on pond ice
The days are short, reminding me of days when my son was young and I resented the brief daylight. We left for work in the dark and arrived home after the sun set. To spend just a little time with my son in the snow, I would turn on the outside light and play with him for a few precious minutes at the end of every day.
On weekends, we would seek out the smallest patch of ice and skate together. Any patch of ice would do. Some years we tried to make a small rink. Usually, we made do with the strip of ice formed at the edge of our driveway…
Our favourite place to skate was a small hollow in the grey woods behind our house. We dubbed it “Hoot-and-Hollow Pond” (because it was just ‘a hoot and a holler’ out back, and because we hear owls so often in the grey woods). The pond was small, but just the right size for my son to wobble around on his first skates.
In the years since we skated there, the trees have grown thick and tall around the pond. I went looking for it this week and found the ruin of the little bridge we built across a narrow place in the pond…
ruined bridge over Hoot-and-Hollow Pond...you can see the broken boards and old nails
and ice on the little pond itself…
Hoot-and-Hollow Pond today, the water level a little lower than when we skated there
~
~
a skate on the woodland pond
~
~
etch
brittle cracks beneath the weight
of blades, we spread our bodies thin
twirl on the delicate lift
of snowflakes drift
above the pond, gather
firs around us, lean away, bend
beneath the weight of snow, find
room to glide, the edge where white birch
cage faint light
magnify the gleam
of paper bark, frail ice
white snow and stars
resist the dark
~
~
© Jane Tims 2011
nichepoetryandprose 
Simply beautiful. I was right there with you.
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Deborah Carr
January 21, 2012 at 8:56 am
Thanks! The skater will never know how many watched him!!! Jane
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jane tims
January 21, 2012 at 9:44 am
Wonderful! I always enjoy my visits to your blog! I love the way you accompany your poetry and prose with the pictures. I really feel like I have been somewhere. Thanks Jane!
Brant
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sunontiepost
January 13, 2012 at 1:26 pm
Hi. Thanks for your comments! I am glad to have shared the experience! Jane
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jane tims
January 14, 2012 at 9:48 am
I enjoyed going with you to a place with such fond memories. I love that the little bridge you built is still there covered up with all that snow.
I also love the poem.
I have a gift waiting for you at http://wp.me/pN0M1-11g
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dearrosie
January 13, 2012 at 1:27 am
Hi Rosie. What a nice tribute! I love the snakeskin photo! Blogging is a lot of fun and helps us to meet such nice people. Thanks! Jane
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jane tims
January 13, 2012 at 10:29 am
What wonderful memories… My sister and I used to skate on parts of the swamp behind our house. It’s something how bodies of water have a life-span, too.
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Barbara Rodgers
January 12, 2012 at 6:39 pm
Hi Barbara. Sometimes our cold weather is not fun, but sometimes so wonderful! Jane
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jane tims
January 13, 2012 at 10:23 am
Beautiful post. I love the name you gave your little pond.
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Robin
January 12, 2012 at 5:43 pm
Hi. I love to name spaces. This name certainly stuck over the years! Jane
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jane tims
January 13, 2012 at 10:21 am
Beautiful icy imagery, Jane. The skates are so sweet too. 🙂
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Eve Redwater
January 11, 2012 at 12:17 pm
Hi Eve. Those poor skates needed some dusting off before I could draw them, but they have been on all my skating outings since high school! Jane
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jane tims
January 12, 2012 at 10:59 am
Beautiful.
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Ellen Grace Olinger
January 11, 2012 at 11:30 am
Hi. Glad you like it! Jane
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jane tims
January 12, 2012 at 10:57 am