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