Waiting for Old Man Winter

Waiting for Old Man Winter

Here I sit–waiting. And looking out of my window on the world. Everything is about the same color–gray. It isn’t, really, I guess–the leaves are brown, neighbor’s house is red brick and his car is black but, if you’ll forgive my saying so, everything looks blah and gray. Is the weatherman right or will he […]

The Meadow: Nature’s Canvas

The Meadow: Nature’s Canvas

  Autumn moves through the meadow, rearranging it in muted colors. As the sun shines on tall grasses, they gleam with the silver of seed tufts. Thistles, whose purple crowns swayed in the breeze only a few weeks ago, now wear cotton thatches. Goldenrod, touched by frost, bows its bronzed blooms. The meadow mirrors passing […]

What Do You Get When You Drop a Pumpkin?

What Do You Get When You Drop a Pumpkin?

  Question: What do you get when you drop a pumpkin? Answer: Squash No, that wasn’t an original with me, but I thought it was pretty clever. When the children were small, we’d take our pumpkins that had been sitting on the porch for a month and squash them against the back fence. This wasn’t […]

Morning Tiptoes In

Morning Tiptoes In

  Early morning slips in on silent feet. It moves through drowsy trees, stirring a leaf here and there. Within the branches of a blue spruce, something stirs. A bird, perhaps? Darkness is slow to leave; the day is loathe to begin. At last, gathering the shadows around it like a cloak, the dawn glides away, yielding to the rising of […]

An Owl in the Neighborhood

An Owl in the Neighborhood

  Neighborhood Owl “There’s an owl in the neighborhood. I heard him late last night When the wind was wild and restless and the moon was round and white. I hurried to my window but nothing I could see Showed anyone in all the town had wakened–only me. Owls live in the forest where trees are […]

Not So Mysterious Manos Meadows

Not So Mysterious Manos Meadows

Where did I come up with the name Manos Meadows? Well, it’s like this. That was the name of our home and a few acres near Tahlequah. So, I keep that title because it reminds me of home. It was not a fancy place. But in June, honeybees buzzed around the hive in the pasture, […]