Thursday, December 31, 2015

December 31: New Year's Eve

Pondering impermanence--
glass of fine bourbon
with Buddha ice cubes.

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

December 30: Driving in winter

That moment before
car tires finally grip the ice--
how sweet, this short life.

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

December 29: First snowfall

long-awaited visitor--
awakened by
the patter of snow's feet


Monday, December 28, 2015

December 28: Year-end

Holiday's over--
sweeping up fir needles
after he takes out the tree.

Sunday, December 27, 2015

December 27: Cold rain

Within the cold rain
as we trudge into the gym--
cardinal's insistent chip.
 

Saturday, December 26, 2015

December 26: Boxing Day hike

We took advantage of the continued unseasonably warm weather to hike up Mount Battie today, grateful that it's just a short walk from our house to the trails of Camden Hills State Park.

Hiking Mount Battie
under Raven's beady eye--
we can see our house from here.



Friday, December 25, 2015

December 25: Christmas moon

Full moon on Christmas
made magical by dawn mist--
I miss my family.

Thursday, December 24, 2015

December 24: Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve morning--
window cat and river
both unsettled by rain.

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

December 23:

Two days to go--
earthworms in sidewalk puddles,
pea soup fog hides the star.

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

December 22: First day of winter

Cold rain falling
on the first day of winter.
Grateful for cookies.

Monday, December 21, 2015

December 21: Museum of Fine Arts

Portrait by Rembrandt--
her curls so clearly painted
with the end of his brush.

Sunday, December 20, 2015

Saturday, December 19, 2015

December 19: Christmas Bird Count

We saw some rare birds today during our annual Christmas Bird Count in the Rockland (ME) area (errant Yellow-throated Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, possible Pacific Loon--check the range maps to understand our excitement), but to me the coolest spectacle of the day was coming upon a crow roost just before sunset.

Swirling masses of crows
gather at their evening roost--
thus darkness falls.



Friday, December 18, 2015

December 18: Climate change

Lingering warbler.
Bright yellow-and-green pool toy
caught in an eddy.

Thursday, December 17, 2015

December 17: Theory of Relativity

wet highway at night
chain of unending taillights
let's call it festive

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

December 16: Advent

Tree lights plugged in, candles lit,
December moon waxing--
each night a gift.

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

December 15: Christmas stollen

Marzipan Christmas stollen--
I still miss my Nana
gone thirty years.

Monday, December 14, 2015

December 14: Purple

On the compost pile
uprooted kale, bright purple
almost a flower
 

Sunday, December 13, 2015

December 13: High tide

 
 
brimming harbor high tide
we skirt waves both ways
on the edge of green depths
 

Saturday, December 12, 2015

December 12: Warm spell

Sunlit morning,
shadows of crows passing over
the still-green lawn.
 

Friday, December 11, 2015

December 11: Update

Noticed a friend had changed his relationship status this morning to "In a complicated relationship." That phrase can sum up so much in this complex, confusing, and ever-changing world.
 
December dandelions--
status update
to "it's complicated."

Thursday, December 10, 2015

December 10: No Trespassing

So much depends upon
the grey-shingled shed
full of firewood.

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

December 9: Howe Hill

deer track hieroglyphs
marking the blueberry field
the color purple

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

December 8: Consolation

Sunset before 4,
glorious hot pink and gold--
light another candle.

Monday, December 7, 2015

December 7: Day at the beach

This morning I birded with my friend Derek at Reid State Park, which features two lovely, long, sandy beaches washed by sparkling surf. At one point in our ramble up the strand, a very loud ship's horn sounded. We later learned that this noise came from a new stealth destroyer that had just launched and was headed out to open ocean from the Kennebec River. Earlier, we had seen people standing on the Bath bridge looking down on Bath Ironworks, where the ship had been built, obviously waiting for the launch. Derek had commented then that it cost over $1 billion to build; hard to reconcile a toy of war with such a bright and peaceful winter's day.
 
morning beach walk
we scan for sea ducks
new destroyer slips out to sea
 

Sunday, December 6, 2015

December 6: O Tannenbaum

Selling Christmas trees--
hands smelling like balsam sap
the rest of the day.

Saturday, December 5, 2015

December 5: Christmas-by-the-Sea

Harborside tree
full of yellow apples--
thought they were ornaments.

Friday, December 4, 2015

December 4: Birthdays

Today is the birthday of both my co-worker Susan and my best friend Susan, who lives in Vermont.

Eating chocolate cake
to celebrate one Susan,
thinking of another.

Thursday, December 3, 2015

December 3: Five for silver

Making a racket
heedless of the pouring rain--
shiny, joyous crows.

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

December 2: Dutch Masters

I've been reading the catalog for the current show at the MFA Boston, "Class Distinctions: Dutch Painting in the Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer," which we hope to see in person in the next few weeks. I've also been engaging closely with several specific paintings from the Dutch Golden Age for a poetry project, soaking up the luminous light and rich colors, flirting with the complex symbolism of a past time and place, and becoming familiar with ordinary humans painted extraordinarily well.

Hours with Dutch paintings
transform the bleak afternoon--
chiaroscuro.

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

December 1: Flight

Over Hannaford
two herons flying to roost
while I lug groceries.