Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Haiku for a winter's day...

During the cold afternoon, I took some of my students outside to bask in the Winter's day. They complained and shivered (we were without coats!) What do you see, smell, hear, touch, taste...listen, I said....listen.

They stopped complaining and shivering and stood in the vast white field in utter quietness and took in the beauty. Here are the results:


Frost condemns my soul
Trees silently wave in wind
Snow melts in my palm

Glimpses of white snow
Chilling me straight to the bone
Freezing off my nose

Snowy ground outdoors
Fragrance so bitter and cold
Wind gusts sweet and aged

Ice glaszes calm pond
Snow crystals fall from the stars
Frosted breeze chills skin

Lou Ann Homan-Saylor lives in Angola, Indiana which is nestled in the hills of Northern Indiana and spends her summers on the wind swept island of Ocracoke. You can find her gardening or writing late into the night under the light of her frayed scarlet lamp. She is a storyteller, a teacher, a writer, an actress and a collector of front porch stories.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Winter according to Rick Bass

I opened the curtain last night before going to bed early to read and caught my breath. The full moon was rising over my neighbor's house and I could not look away. I shut out the lights and called Philip up and we stood watching. It was surreal really. The moon was caught on the dark ebony branches of winter and was stark against the night sky. With all the snow on the ground and covering my twinkle lights on the balcony, the view was spectacular. I didn't want to stop looking. It made me think of one of my favorite books on Winter by Rick Bass. I read this book every winter again and again. Here is a passage for your enjoyment:

"Be loyal to the winter, all the way through-all the way, and with sincerity-or you'll find yourself high and dry, longong for a spring that's a lon way off, and winter will have abandoned you, and in her place you'll have cabin fever, the worst.
The colder it gets, the more you've got to love it."

Lou Ann Homan-Saylor lives in Angola, Indiana which is nestled in the hills of Northern Indiana and spends her summers on the wind swept island of Ocracoke. You can find her gardening or writing late into the night under the light of her frayed scarlet lamp. She is a storyteller, a teacher, a writer, an actress and a collector of front porch stories.

Monday, January 14, 2008

The bleak midwinter...

So, the blog gets behind again.

Let's start with New Year's resolutions: write, walk, play the guitar, and be open for change. How is that for a way to start the New Year?

The past few weeks have been interesting and fun for me. Philip left his lovely island to spend the bleak midwinter with me. We traveled to Texas to spend a wonderful five days with my Mom and Dad and my brother, Jack, and his wife, Denise, and a quick lunch with my sister, Leslie.

It was wonderful for Philip to spend time getting to know my parents and watching home movies. Hours and hours. He was such a good sport!

We spent New Year's Eve with his Aunt Thelma and cousin Becky in Grapevine, Texas.

We flew home to the most spectacular winter wonderland that I can ever remember!

Let's also talk about books. I just read Diane Setterfield's book, The Thirteenth Tale. It was wonderful. Read it.

So, I have brushed off the cobwebs and set about to writing the blog again. Not to have my work go undone...I am still publishing every Saturday in my hometown newspaper and my Sunday Passage continues to be written. Look for both on-line.

Until tomorrow...put on the tea and curl up with a great book.

Lou Ann

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