Whimsical Winterfest

"I think we're not in Miami, anymore."

Adrift on an ice floe in Bedford, Texas, Felicia Flamingo, hopes she finds dry land before Super Bowl XLV begins.

Aaah, I've claimed a deck chair. Now where's the cabana boy service?

I'm doing my best to help. Push harder

Brushing snow and chipping ice works up a thirst.

What do you think, folks? A kid's picturebook? Everyone loves flamingos, but how about that snow plotline twist?

Super Snow Bowl

It could be rain, It could be snow, Weathermen never know - Willard Scott/NBC Today Show 11/27/95

The weathermen actually did get it right this week in Dallas-Ft.Worth. Ice on Tuesday, temperatures in the teens Wednesday and Thursday, then snow up to three inches or more accumulation on Friday. Bingo! All plows all the time on any Road to the Super Bowl - Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Our visitors from Pittsburgh and Green Bay must regret packing shorts, sunscreen, and a swimsuit. Hopefully, they brought an ice scraper for their car rental.

Some are weatherwise, some are otherwise - Ben Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanac, December 1735.

Nature is always serious - does not jest with us Ralph Waldo Emerson 1883

Nature, as we know her, is no saint - Ralph Waldo Emerson 1844

Day Four. Cabin Fever. To heck with writing poems about the ice, snow, lovely flakes falling so delicately - Joanne Faries

Weather Plot Contrivances

First day of spring in Texas generally heralds blue sky, sunshine, shorts, and spring break - idle poolside contemplating swimsuit season.

First day of spring 2010 - I don't think so. First 1-1/2 inches of rain and then the dreary day turned worse. Far more foreboding with snow flurries that accumulated. One inch in Bedford. Record snow for this day and almost a season record from DFW Airport. We were 1/2 inch behind for the year. Darn.

My flowers said, "What?" "Why?" "Oh, My God!"

New exciting rock treatment in the backyard - snow?

Yep -truth is stranger than fiction. Thus, my next plot point twist and turn could be snow on the first day of spring. Driving hazards, freeze dangers - just the whole description of snow and the fascination. Lovers hunkered down in front of a fireplace. Or the reality - punching the button once again on the thermostat and trying to figure out where that fits in the budget. Will folks believe it? They better!

Write Beyond

I'm still pushing my blizzard pictures, plus we have snowflakes today. So, the February snow theme continues this week. How come the snow in Whistler, BC, Canada looks way cooler? Well, for one thing, they manage to have sunshine combined with snow. Somehow, Texas can't muster both at the same time. Gray and dreary prevails. Thus I don't have decent sun glinting off snow pics. But the detail of snow on my garden curbing is awesome. I'm working up a poem, knee deep in finding a synonym for white.

Where's the eye focus? The fish silhouette? Or the empty space? As a wordsmith, I need to blur the field, change the focus, discover another view or pattern. That's the constant challenge, and just when I hit on something pure, it can melt away.

Blizzard Blog

It began on Friday and snowed on through Saturday. Here are blizzard pictures in Delaware, courtesy of my sister. (Thanks, Lori)

Not going to get far without being plowed. Drifts up to 20+ inches. Wet, heavy, chunky snow. I'm sure the Eskimos have a special word for it.

Here's a poem I wrote:

Blizzard

swirls and drifts

covers mall lots

halting shoppers slide

into debt

Sunday - sunny blue skies, an aching back, and the promise of no school/work (for teachers) tomorrow.

Stiff by Joanne Faries

Frankenstein boot crunch

breaks silent

snow day
winter's lacy wisps

tickle lashes

eyes squint as

icicles drip in

winter sun

evergreen leans

branches creak

one step

No snow day in Texas. Throw a snowball for me in PA and DE!

Dreaming of a White Christmas

This sled is almost 50 years old. It hangs in my father's garage and was used by all three of the Crowther kids - Joanne, David, and Lori. It dreams of a white Christmas. That's what it's all about - the songs, the stories, the myths.

The white Christmas came early this year. Here's my sister's deck patio in DE. She shoveled 18 inches and groaned all the way. Somehow, as an adult, it's not as glamorous as the myth or movies.

Nonetheless, Lori got an extra two days off for the Christmas holiday. She got her driveway shoveled and could get to a bookstore if she wanted to. At this point Christiana Mall (Newark, DE) is open and praying for customers before Christmas. The perspective between being an adult who has to drive in the darn wet stuff and the kid who's hoping for a sled or coaster or skis or a snowboard is beyond description.

As a transplanted Northeastener, the myth lives. I want to look out the window on Christmas Eve and see snowflakes falling. Then again, we don't own a snow shovel, so there better not be accumulation. Best to read about it in the newspaper.

Expect the Unexpected

December 2nd in Texas and it snowed. I was stuck in traffic on I820, so I did not take a picture. Thus I'm stealing this from Linda T and Cecil - their lovely backyard patio coated in the white stuff. "No accumulation," said the weatherfolks.

Well, expect the unexpected, folks and this applies to writing. As the writer, we need to throw stuff at our readers that makes sense but that they don't anticipate. As a reader, that's the joy - turn the page and go, "Whoa! I didn't expect that."

I started to outline my NaNo novel to see what the heck I wrote in 29 days and if it was coherent after all. I did manage a few surprises and I can see where I should add a few more twists. Plus it's amusing to see where I drifted - names changed or people were in two places at one time without the benefit of time travel.

This is definitely an adventure. Will it snow in August in my book? Hmmm......