Archive for the ‘a moment of beautiful’ Category
a moment of beautiful – ice in the ditch
the space: a ditch along the road
the beautiful: a skim of new ice
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When nights are icy cold after a day of spring warmth, water freezes in the ditches. Ephemeral, this skim of new ice will be gone as soon as the morning sun overtops the trees.
The ice is frail, but if you are careful, you can lift a pane of this natural glass and see the world through a different window.
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ditch ice
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on the last sub-zero night in March
we forge swords and slivers
cast a lens, a barrier to warm
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below ditch ice are sinuous
arrangements of water and breath
nostrils grope for airways
peer through frozen skim
as though through windows
learn the underside of pane
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© Jane Tims 2012
a moment of beautiful – a swing in the orchard
the space: in the shade of a tree
the beautiful: an old wooden swing
The sight of a swing hanging from the solid limb of an old tree recalls happy hours of swinging when I was a child.
On my grandfather’s farm, the swing was a swing-chair, and I spent hours pushing the old swing to its limits (see ‘in the apple orchard’ the post for August 9, 2011, under the category ‘my grandfather’s farm’). At home in Ralston, Alberta, the community playground had an adult-sized swing set, strong enough to withstand our approach of ‘stand on the seat and pump’. And, when my son was little, we had an old-fashioned board and rope swing – it was a little off-kilter and seemed to go side-to-side rather than forward-and-backward but I remember he and I had lots of fun.
My own childhood story about board and rope swings is bitter-sweet. My Dad built me a swing and hung it from the rafters in the basement of our house in Medicine Hat. I loved it, but … one day I let go of the ropes and fell backwards, hitting my head on the concrete floor. I can still remember the intense pain and the big black star that dominated my vision for a moment. People who know me will say this explains a lot.
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swing sway
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the old swing
hangs frayed from a limb
of the apple tree
sways
hips as she waits
for the downtown bus
rocking learned
in baby years
when rhythm brought peace
and a quiet evening
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© Jane Tims 2012
a moment of beautiful – traffic lights
the space: above the roadway, at an intersection, in the fog
the beautiful: green, yellow and red traffic lights, seeming to hover, like jewels in the fog
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Traffic lights!!! Beautiful??? Perhaps you will never agree. But I think those lights, when seen on a foggy day, suspended as if from the sky itself, are as beautiful as jewels. Emerald, topaz and ruby.
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Copyright Jane Tims 2012
a moment of beautiful – tracks in the snow
the space: new fallen snow
the beautiful: a Red Squirrel’s tracks
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An expanse of new fallen snow is like an unwritten page. When you find something written there, it is a message of beauty.
In our driveway, after the last snow, a Red Squirrel was the first to write on the ‘page’. The prints were delicate, traced in blue shadows.
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Our Red Squirrels are certainly not afraid of the snow.
digging for sunflower seeds
red squirrel with snow accumulating on his head
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a love letter, unsigned
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the meadow in winter
a sheet of paper
folded
where the stream
flows under the ice
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the sky
an envelope
lined in blue
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tracks on the snow
cautious
afraid
words
pressed to the page
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erased
(erased)
by melting
or a dusting
of new snow
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Published as: ‘a love letter, unsigned’, 1999, Green’s Magazine XXVII (2): 44.
Copyright Jane Tims 1999
a moment of beautiful – trees and shadows
space: edge of the St. John River in winter
beautiful: mature silver maple trees and their shadows on the snow
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We went for a drive last weekend, along the St. John River. Above the ice, the river is covered in snow, a broad white plain edged by very old and very rugged silver maple trees.
In spite of a harsh environment, these trees endure. Each spring and fall, they are flooded. They are scoured by ice and subject to the eroding forces of the river. They are always at risk from people searching for a supply of firewood. A friend tells me these huge trees are usually suckers, grown from the base after the original tree was harvested.
And yet they grow old, a part of the hardwood floodplain forest. On a sunny day, they lean over the snow-covered river and spread their shadows across its surface. They have the beauty of their symmetry, solidity, grace, and fortitude.
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the line of animal tracks crossing the snow are probably from a Red Fox
Copyright Jane Tims 2012
a moment of beautiful – slices of orange
the space – a window with curtains
the beautiful – dried slices of orange
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Yesterday I came into the house just as the sunlight was beaming through the window and experienced a moment so beautiful – a dazzling display of light and shadow.
Last Christmas, I sliced oranges and lemons and dried them as decorations for our tree at work. When Christmas was over, they were too pretty to throw away, so I strung them on raffia and hung them on a wooden coat hanger in the front window.
The sunlight shining through those dried orange slices, in combination with the shadows on the sheer curtains, was magical.
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sunlight shines
through a slice of orange
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sliced sunlight
rays transparent
membrane cellophane orange
juice fossilized
rose window
lustrous
citrus
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© Jane Tims 2012
© Jane Tims 2012
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