Saturday, January 23, 2016

VIRGINIA COUNTRY WINTERS


WINTER STORM "JONAS" 2016
Photo 1: Marshmallow Mound tops our deck table with yard stick protruding.
Photo 2: At the right side of the snow plow hides my invisible Toyota.

 SNOWMAGEDDON


Snow fell lightly one January night
(and for several days thereafter)
as if God were in Heaven’s kitchen
making an angel food cake and then dumping it earthward:

He sifted it in heaps over the hills
spreading it smoothly like frosting
over every bare branch
beating white peaks of meringue
against our shrubbery
and making a marshmallow mound
of my Toyota in the lane
(and then obliterated it altogether
with a silk white comforter.) 
He swirled powdered sugar
with abandon down our sledding hill
while all life came to a standstill
in our deep-freezer pond.

But tomorrow (or the day after, I certainly hope!)
the warm winter sun is sure to break forth
bringing rising temps
and when the snow plow
has dug us out at last
our world will morph into a marble cake:
chocolate chip mud morsels
will dot our leaky lawn and lumpy fields
cocoa-splashes will mar
the pristine purity
of night after night when God whitewashed the landscape while we reveled in the spectacular beauty
of God’s Divine Cuisine
from behind the windows
of our warm and cozy home.

Let's look forward and embrace
the pending change of pace:
Our crusted, rutted road will become brown-sugared
with maple syrup puddles.
A lone duck may splash about with delight
in the thin, watery edges of our pond
quacking with delight at the melting sight.
That too is to be enjoyed
as another of God's cookbook recipes.

Who knows?
Certainly the weather forecaster doesn’t!
Virginia's winters always hold surprises:
God may send a second angel
to fly down and deftly apply
another fluffy layer of white frosting
on our chocolate world
before we've recovered
from the recent traumatic snowflake drama
and spread a frothy, finishing fillip
of whipped cream snow
to top His marble cake
or silver crust it all with slippery ice—
wouldn't that too be nice?

I don't dream pensively
(oh well, maybe sometimes!)
for Florida's predictability.
Come what may, I'm here to stay!
I delightfully thrive
on whatever of God's culinary menu
He decides to dish up
for our Virginia country winters!
****
Leona Choy

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