My friend Dave Hill left me to the dismal month of March while he and his wife and mother in law headed for the sunny climes of Arizona and Texas. Before leaving he gave me a poem called The Dismal Month – which upon reading is much more upbeat than the title gives clue to. I have been looking for images that work with the text and I think I found a few today.
After spending nearly a week horizontal from a cold that turned out to be about a debilitating as anything I have experienced in a long time I was determined to get out of the house today – no rain and a bit of sun. While certainly not operating at 100% – more like 70% – I made my way south to the town of Lorane and then down the Siuslaw River drainage to Siuslaw Falls. The river was full and carrying the sediment of spring runoff adding to the color of the riffles. I had never been to this small waterfall but think a trip back this autumn with low flows and leaf color will find its way to my calendar. As so the verse:
Now, Less wearily, Less warily, She quickens over the hill,
Across the meadow, Along the twinkling brook,
Hair flying, Dead leaves blowing.
Not really a brook – a full tilt flow in a nice sized river.
I haven’t been on the couch, but my mother-in-law gave me a gruesome cold with most of the trimmings: headache, sore throat, photophobia, quasi-chills, and of course the desire to invest in the Kleenex company. I’m only at about 30% as I write!
I find the second image the more to my liking: it seems sharper, and the spray shooting forth near the bottom left adds a sense of the fragility to which the raging torrent really owes its existence.
It’s only fair that readers of your blog should know that the poem is really about Spring. How “she” arises disshevled from winter’s ice and the dead leaves of autumn past, only to gather strength from the warmth of the sun, ’til running full tilt with the beauty of crocus emerging behind her.
I know you guys have been having a bit of weather, so I’m glad you got out when you could and shared the shots!
So glad you are feeling better and got outside to take some photos. I can see spring emerging in these pictures. I’m ready for spring here. Still so much snow here. Thank you for sharing the poem and the pictures. Encouraging words that spring will be here soon.