frosted incline

frost again promising

slippery incline of our hill

so many times impassable

in winter, or willing

to accept those drivers game

to slide downhill side door first

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 light snow at 32 degrees

at 34, snow-rain that then freezes

to ice what has already fallen onto

our hill, a paved logging road

with impossible slopes even 4-wheel

drive and chains find challenging

so i’ve been writing and reading

wrapped up in fluffed blankets

huddled in my home living on

canned goods and fruit stocked

up a week ago at meteorologists’

warnings of severe winter storms

a new, limited lifestyle that calls

from within me a rare perspective

of proper humility in the grip

of Nature as she wills

pink snow

tint of pink light over the snow

like a filmy negligee over bared shoulder as sunrise hints

at change from full moon’s eerie blue-silver cast

i chuckle to remember tiny granddaughter’s declaration

of “pink snow” many springs ago

as we walked among blossoming plum trees

stay at home

gentle chill inside

outside arctic cold, icy rain crusting snow adding glittering brilliance

but also added incentive to remain

indoors

goosebumps

i remember snow in late May

near Williamstown, Massachusetts

but here in western Oregon

heavy, white flakes seem unseasonal

this late in March—the daffodils

and crocuses shiver in the chill

new blades of grass cower

as do Oregonians unaccustomed

to such inclement weather

weather identity theft

flat, gray sky

dripping snow-rain

melting tufts in white yard

exposing greenish grass

that hasn’t seen sunlight in weeks

unsure whether winter or spring

tracks left visible

 tiny tracks of animals

skittering atop the crusted

crystalline snow

snow! scurry home

snow! scurry home

to warm fire, hot chocolate

and loving arms

wind-whispered promise

 despite the cold

that burrows under the skin

to gnaw at the marrow

in my bones

the wind that lifts

and swirls sparkling flakes

tells me the snow will cling

to the mountains

and, in the spring, melt

as water for crops

a gift longer-term

and worth my shivering

            mjNordgren  12/26/2022  Omaha

this day in weather

google remembers for me

snow, sleet and cold

this day years ago

i am satisfied with rain

chill and fog filling

the valley below like

a milky lake