View From the Back Door

Posted on by Cheryl Capaldo Traylor
Yesterday morning I woke up to a winter wonderland. This morning, I watched as more snow came down. In between, we also saw some sleet, rain, and freezing rain. Welcome to North Carolina.
I’m not a big fan of wintry precipitation. But I do believe fresh-fallen snow is just about one of the most magical scenes that I can imagine. Unlike most other days, cars and trucks scarcely come by. It’s quiet, as if the fluffy, white blanket of snow insulates my ranch house from all outside noise. Even the birds–white-throated sparrows, juncos, titmice, and wrens–seem quieter as they flit here and there pecking at the sunflower seeds that I have scattered all around.
Four cats lounge lazily by the fire. Each taking turns. As one jumps off the quilt-laden hearth, another jumps on in an endless cycle of I’m cold; I’m hot. Your turn!
And me? I’m sitting by the window catching up on back issues of Our State and Country Living magazines. Looking out the window. Daydreaming. Being still.
Flying low.
I love this poem by Mary Oliver. And although there are no bees, fish, or gnats right now, it still expresses my mood today. 
 
 
Today
Today I’m flying low and I’m not saying a word
I’m letting all the voodoos of ambition sleep.

The world goes on as it must,
the bees in the garden rumbling a little,
the fish leaping, the gnats getting eaten.
And so forth.

But I’m taking the day off.
Quiet as a feather.
I hardly move though really I’m traveling 
a terrific distance.

Stillness. One of the doors
into the temple.
~Mary Oliver
 


That’s my news. I hope everyone is well and enjoying a peaceful day.

18 thoughts on “View From the Back Door”

  4. This is the kind of snow and snow day that I miss. In Chicago, we would get heavy, deep pile-ups that blanketed our yard and street and made me feel I was in Anna Karenina’s Russia. All sound was muffled, no one was expected to do anything or go anywhere, and I could sit by the fire with a cup of chai and just read. But then the streets would get plowed, and we’d all have to actually LIVE in that cold mess … for another 5-6 months. I’m hoping for one (1!) nice snowy day when I head north for Christmas, and then I will happily return to my semi-tropical home!

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  7. I do so love Mary Oliver – she takes those moments we all have and makes them sing! And your snow is so lovely – will it stay? Will you have a white Christmas? When I lived in the UK there was a couple of winters when we got snowed in and it was simply magic. I lived in a converted barn, in the middle of a field and the first time it happened my car all but disappeared beneath the drift of the fall and looking down from my upper window the ground was a smooth pristine white – unmarked except for the footprints of a lone fox who had circled the barn then wandered off across the field. This girl from the temperate zone was entranced!

    Enjoy and rest – ‘fly low’ it’s a wonderful phrase!

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    1. This snow will be gone by tomorrow afternoon. We rarely get snow. And VERY rarely get this much. It is entrancing! Especially because it doesn’t come frequently. Your story is lovely! I looked for fox or raccoon tracks here. I only saw bird and squirrel tracks. Hopefully all the animals stayed warm, as I guess they know how to do:)

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