Aaron Paul Lazar

I Love Winter

Fragile snow
clings to cold bare branch
Safe for now

Yesterday, winter finally arrived in upstate NY.

Julian adored the fresh snow, packing snowballs with one red and one blue mitten.

All went well, until Gordie stepped into the "pond" wearing only his winter snowboots.

They aren't waterproof, so he ended up inside. But Julian and I continued to play. See the chairs we sat in to cast our lines into the water last week? What a difference!

You know how I'm always talking about "picking kale" and cooking it up for dinner? Here it is - still growing strong, in January!

I loved the way these branches lay, so delicate and ready to be blown down to bare wood with the slightest puff of breath.

This is the view behind our barn, looking across the street. The low setting sun glowed golden, highlighting snow on trees in the distance. The clouds were dramatic and rolled across the horizon in a delicate symphony.

If you'd like to write a haiku or poem about any of the above photos - feel free to send it and I'll post it here.

For haiku, use either of the following formats for syllable count.

three
five
three

or:

five
seven
five

Remember to delight in the little things around you - a birdsong that greets you at dawn, clear stars shining in the frosty sky, or the crunch of your boots on snow. Life is there for the taking - savor it!

Here's our first entry, by good friend and crit buddy SW Vaughn! She made me laugh. ;o)

Sorry, friend...

Tires slip, cold wet feet

Snow just sucks!


And here's an entry by my favorite reviewer, Joyce Handzo, from In the Library Reviews.

icy wisps
dance leap and giggle
magical

Thank you, Ladies!

Mr. Thomas Fortenberry has stepped up to the challenge. Here's his delightful entry:

Old Man Winter's Candy Cane

licking frozen kale
Old Man Winter's candy cane
reminds me of home

[c thomas fortenberry]