Sunday, February 26, 2012

Birdhouses in the Snow




There are three, hanging from the lower branches of a basswood tree right outside my window. These tiny houses, teetering back and forth, buffeted by a late February wind like pendulums on wire fulcrums, take turns moving to the music. First, the white one with a blue roof sways in time to the falling stars of snowflakes landing gently at his feet. Then he rests as the yellow one with green roof turns towards him to signify her entrance, taking up the rhythm the wind has set in motion. The slightly larger white one with green roof, on the other side of the tree, keeps a steady beat next to the shiny bumblebee with wire baton who seems to be conducting the orchestra from his podium further out on the branch. Meanwhile, the rocks below continue to hum a bass line. As the snow increases and the tempo picks up, a solitary cluster of what at first appears to be dead leaves clinging to a nearby branch but are really brown leotards, begins to dance something wildly contemporary. The birdhouses, in fermata, silently watch as the audience, hanging on every note, breathlessly awaits the musical denouement.











P.S. By some odd "coincidence," as I was looking up something else, the word fermata showed up. It's a musical term for holding a note for whatever duration the conductor decides, usually appearing towards the end of a piece. Another term for it is "Bird's Eye."  I couldn't resist.


Paintings:  "Fence Line," by Andrew Wyeth, and, "The Magpie," by Claude Monet

28 comments:

  1. Teresa, beautiful word representation of very lovely-soft serene photos. While you can have the snow, with it comes such gentleness and beauty~
    great post...

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  2. A pitch perfect post for a cold and sunny Sunday afternoon here, Teresa. I love to check the birdhouses and think I'll just go take a little stroll in a bit to see what ours our playing.

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  3. A wonderful sensory experience on a snowy winter day. I hope you have just the right amount of snow!

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  4. A wonderful and subtle look into your world. My God you write beautifully. Thank you, and keep appreciating winter while we have it. Thanks.

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  5. I believe your prose/poem is why I like words. The cadence and rhythm is like a dance that takes me away from me. Observation of the beauty of the world seems like such a simple thing but, if so, many have still not learned to observe. Throw in the subtle, nuanced power of suggestion and you have a poet like yourself, my friend. Quite beautiful, poem and poet.

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  6. I could feel them bobbing and swaying, beautiful. At first I thought your pictures were photographs but then I realised they couldn't be. Incidentally, they're very small and I couldn't see them very well, so I am wondering just what made me realise they weren't photos. I can't quite pin it down. thanks for an interesting post.

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  7. What a lovely post! You see beauty in so many mundane things. How I envy your sense of vision!

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  8. How wonderful to have friends who live in a season always the antithesis of one's own.. especially one with a gift of insight and language.

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  9. Ahhh, I heard that wonderful symphony you described. It is a lovely post and I do indeed cherish every word you send out to me, Teresa. Well written, and my heart is lifted from it. And a very apt synchronicity with the word fermata.

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  10. Just wonderful to read your writing here and be transported....

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  11. You are too good at this whole "writing" thing - in fact, it's probably only bested by your whole "imagination" thing!

    Sans the cold and the wind, I really wanted to join in that dance :)

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  12. Love that you linked the fermata (birds eye) with this. The wind has most certainly picked up here in Minneapolis, and we are eagerly awaiting the winter storm warning for Tuesday!

    Pearl

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  13. Dear Teresa,
    I can definitely see why you couldn't resist that word once this magical posting can to mind.

    Peace.

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  14. It's been so long since I played, I'd forgotten fermata. It took a moment for my mind to sort it out.

    I love the image of the birdhouses performing, and I especially like that Wyeth painting. Beautiful post!

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  15. Perhaps those little houses dance in anticipation of the new families who will soon be moving into them and their new cycle of life!

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  16. I was looking and looking for the bird houses in those photos and then I saw they were paintings. Ha. and fermata is a new one on me, the note is fermenting as it were.

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  17. Wyeth usually make me feel good -- fence line is wonderful! Thanks -- barbara

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  18. Thank you all for your comments. I appreciate them very much.

    Winter snowstorm headed our way here.... I look forward to an even deeper quiet and stillness....

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  19. The Great Orchestra In The Sky! As It Happens, This Morning At 630am I Was woken Up (the first time this year)By The Sound of hundreds of Birds singing.Spring Must Be On It's Way?

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  20. Lovely! Lovely! Lovely!
    Musical words and perfect paintings and Buddy.
    What more could one ask for?
    Blizzard is supposed to arrive tonight (Tues).
    Stay safe and warm. :)

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    1. Yes, a foot of snow, or maybe more.... You stay safe and warm, too! :)

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  21. I've been watching the birds here too. Lots of finches and bluebirds, red-winged blackbirds by the hundreds hiding in the berry vines making enough noise for me to "know" they are there but hiding well enough that I cannot see them well. And crows: they are everywhere, dropping peanuts shells from some neighboring home. I love the birds here and it seems like you do too.

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  22. You do write beautifully and I can feel the enjoyment you felt in composing this post. Isn't it fascinating that this beauty is everywhere, anywhere we choose to stop and look, really look. Isn't it interesting too that reading a piece like this can, if the reader gives themselves to it's enjoyment, have the same soothing affect as being there and soaking it up through our very own senses. Reading can be sort of a back door into mindfulness.

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  23. When the soul rocks peacefully, every experience is a blissful ray of titillating wonder. You captured the whole scene serenely, and the flow of your words unveils the tranquility within me, which was buried in the mire of my restlessness. Thank you for sharing.

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