wordsfromanneli

Thoughts, ideas, photos, and stories.


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What’s Under There?

Photo courtesy of Pat Gerrie.

No, that is not a frozen lake beyond the tree line. It’s the northern end of the Okanagan Valley, seen from Silver Star Mountain Resort.

Imagine life going on under that massive fog in the valley. People are trying to drive to and from town, to buy groceries, fill the car with gas, visit with friends, pick up kids from school. They’re feeling their way through the fog, trying not to drive into the lake beside the highway. Doom and gloom, like being half blind when you’re right down there in it. Grope, grope.

And here is the fog over the Comox Valley. Below this fog is the salt water. Only boats are groping their way from A to B. Under this fog, the sea lions chase salmon while the salmon chase herring.

 

Eagles hover over unsuspecting loons, or scoters, or ducks, looking for a sickly one – perhaps one who had a hard time finding food during that last cold spell. They wait for a break in the fog to spy their lunch. Or, they might fly over unsuspecting birds who don’t expect an attacker from the mist.

The fog is scheduled to lift now that a new southeast system is moving in, but it seems that in a surprise about-face, the wind is forecast to bring us one more day of northern air and blow some snow flurries on us – just for a few minutes tomorrow.

 

Icy fog 

Droplets of drizzle,

Freeze my dog,

Muzzle of grizzle.

 

Blind and down,

My spirits are low,

Fog brings a frown,

Wish it would go.

 

Southeaster blows,

Fog drifts away,

Maybe it snows,

But just for a day.


53 Comments

Dim Sum

Sorry. It’s not about Chinese food, although I would love to have some right about now.

The brightness of the sky today got “dim some” when the fog rolled in. After days of heavy rain, the clouds regrouped and pondered their next mode of attack, increasingly darkening the sky as the day wore on.

After a while, the fog moved into our place higher up on the hill, and we lived in a cloud for much of the day.

Even Rufus, the spotted towhee, had trouble finding the feeder until Goldie (the golden crowned sparrow) chirped to let him in on the meal.

Groping, groping as we fly,

What has happened to the sky?

It’s not blue nor full of rain,

Will we see the sun again?

 

Chilly, chilly is the air,

Need to find nutritious fare,

Build our strength and warm us up,

Need some grains for us to sup.

 

Foggy, foggy all around,

Where can all the seeds be found?

Goldie chirps and calls to me,

She’s my compass, friend, I see.

 

Sharing, sharing all the seeds,

She has way more than she needs,

Nice of her to share her lunch,

Think I love her a whole bunch.

 

By the way, Rufus and Goldie both invite you to check out Anneli’s bargains for her books at https://wordsfromanneli.com/2021/11/21/book-bargains/ 

A great deal until Christmas.

 


30 Comments

Three Cheers for the Weather – “Raw! Raw! Raw!”

I thought it was pretty at first, the way the fog rolled in over the bay and completely hid the water from view.

Foolish girl!

It rolled onto the lower beach areas and the land close to the water.

Smugly, I thought, “How pretty it looks, and how lucky am I to be living on higher ground in the clear blue sky.”

But pride comes before the fall. You might be able to see the mist lifting ever so slightly, rising up, looking for me.

Here it comes…

and here it stays, full of tiny droplets of ice water that almost freeze the air.

Carl Sandburg’s Chicago poem, “Fog,” made an impression on me the first time I heard it. He says it so simply, so “on the mark,” and with beautiful imagery.

The fog comes
on little cat feet.

It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.

Carl Sandburg

But …

I’m sorry, Carl. I find that very often, the last line of your poem doesn’t work for me, so I’ve had to change it.

 

The fog comes
on little cat feet.

It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and stays and stays and stays and stays and stays… .

Anneli Purchase