Fragments
a Poe-umm
Fragments. Sense and nonsense. I’m sensing nonsense. I’m going with the flow. There are some things I can’t do anything about. Night and day—a polar vortex. Sometimes, I dread to see the moon and stars, I have prayed for a cloudy night sky to keep us warmer. Searching—new horizons— Is it possible to invent a month in the year that doesn’t wring out our emotions for 30 days? It would be nice. I look for the silver lining Even in the darkest times, the smallest glimmer is hope for better. Night—wanderings—the ride, the eve of a New Year. Pop the cork and drink a toast to hope! The way I see it, (and I’ll say it again) there is “a way of doing” and “a way of doing”— Make light in the darkness. I always want what matters. When the past is too close to the surface be kind, especially to yourself. Just when you thought old wounds have been forgotten They suddenly show up uninvited in your present thoughts. Let the dead bury the dead, Mr. Finch. Let us sing together—we shall live again… These moments, rare and clear, A bell rings. The sun sets, and the moon rises red. An owl hoots quietly as if in reverence of the moon’s full phase— already waning with a small bite out of it, it looks like an egg. Remembering summer nights Fireflies and heat lightning flash together. Or something like that—it feels like forever ago. Refuge, that particular word, excited emphasis No doubt what was implied. It hangs over us, forgotten. Remote. Obvious. I still say, straight lines are a lie.
I wrote this using some fragments of unfinished poe-umms that I wanted to do something with, and then I borrowed a few words or lines from some of my 2025 poetry that were still bumping around in my brain, things I’ve said that I’ve turned into poetry.
In the recording, my kitty, Sooty, stretched and chirped in her sleep just after I read the repeat of the line “There’s a way of doing.” She’s always a noisy sleeper. She’s so soft and plushy. (She’s my little “COVID baby.” I adopted her in December 2020. A friend of mine had a mama cat arrive on her doorstep, and she immediately gave birth to kittens on October 1, 2020. I watched her grow up on Facebook. She had brightly colored calico and ginger siblings, who were getting a lot of attention from potential adopters. This little dust ball held my heart in her paws! I do love gray kitties; they are special. Being a diluted tortie, even better. She is the best kitty; she’s never known trauma, hunger, or suffering of any kind. She’s such a happy girl!
I have been in the studio, continuing work on the Unexpected project (pictured above). I painted more pink paper to create more paperdolls. The current ones are fine; I just felt the need for a few extras because I want some stand-alone, posable ones (they are sassy dolls and determined to express their feelings). I’m having fun! I attached the first group Saturday, and I love the sass of their hands on their hips.
I hope everyone had a nice holiday—it is such a hard time of year, and it can be difficult in so many ways. Here in our old farmhouse on this acre of the world, no one got sick, the weather on Christmas day was good enough for everyone to get together, (although my sister did have a tire start to go flat on her way to our house, but my Fred and our son, changed the tire for her, so she was good to go home afterward!) We had a good meal, good conversation, good wine, and we were all good to each other...
(My sister’s tire was replaced the very next day!)
I was exhausted, but I could relax and enjoy time with my boys during their holiday break from work. Today is their first full day back.
The weather, let me tell you…you know it’s cold when your wee donkey’s pee freezes to the stall floor... just sayin’...it’s been very cold and stormy here; it’s exhausting. I’m tired of layers of clothes in general and the layers of “armor” against the cold outside. We’ve had lots of lake effect snow, about a foot or so since Christmas, but we didn’t get 4-6 feet like our neighbors north of the New York State Thruway… the Tug Hill Plateau, places like Oswego, Fulton, Hastings, Almar, Parish, Williamstown, Watertown, Pulaski, Redfield…the Adirondacks got their share of the winter love. And, of course, Syracuse (famous snow town) received two feet of snow in two days (12/30-31).
We’re only 7 miles away from the snowy city, and we got 6-8 inches, then a little more since then, but there was a lot of wind during those two days, too. It was a constant roar, it was maddening. (It was the same wind that blew the water from Lake Erie at Toledo, Ohio, East to Buffalo, New York, that was intense. It’s a phenomenon called Seiche.)
It was reported that someone found a snowmobile that had fallen through the ice years ago. That’s so messed up. The water eventually went back home to Toledo.
Another clipper system is passing through today, so it’s snowing again, but it is 29 degrees, which is warmer than it’s been for a while.
It hasn’t been solid cold the entire time; we have had some breaks in the weather that allowed sunshine, some rain, some melting, and wee Elizabeth had her last blanket break on December 29th when is was just above freezing.
Starting tomorrow, we’re having a thaw that will last into the weekend, so a lot of water will need to go somewhere. Ice jams and flooding will happen—different shit, different day ending in “Y”—yes, why. The warmth will be a relief and a curse at the same time... it feels wrong…oy vey. I feel like I didn’t quite get the rest and relaxation that I needed after the hol-i-daze…but what the hey, I wrote a new poe-umm, and I’m so happy!
This sweet little Junco hit our dining room window on Saturday morning. I was up in the studio when I heard her hit, so I ran outside, and I found her stunned, lying in the snow. I scooped her up and kept her warm, hoping that she would recover. I had to rescue her three times from Harper Lee when she tried to fly, but she kept fluttering and falling into the snow. (Kitty was happy to see me outside, so she was only being her usual self, greeting me with meows and purring her heart out. I think she was curious and impressed by my ability to “catch a bird”. The wee bird passed away an hour later after my best efforts to keep her warm and safe. It is very likely she had internal injuries and went into shock. She was so small, fragile, warm. I felt her little heart beating in the palm of my hand. Then stillness.
It doesn’t seem to matter what I have on the windows to deter them from flying into them. It depends on the sun’s angle; even on a cloudy day, they still see reflections of trees and sky. Last night, I cut out paper stars and stuck them on the glass with glue dots, hoping to make a difference. The cling decals seem to be worthless plastic junk.
New Year’s Day was too squally and unsafe to drive around, so we postponed our annual walk in the woods to Tinkerfalls, but we finally had our walk in the woods yesterday, and it was really nice. It was lightly snowing, and chickadees were sweetly calling out from the treetops. The stream was running, but partially iced over. In some places, the ice was so solid you could safely stand on it and still hear the water running beneath it. The falls were gorgeous, running water and ice together; it looked like a temple. There were times, many years ago, when the falls were a solid pillar of aqua-colored ice with water running inside it...very cool (and cold.)
Every year, I try to stand in the same spot and point my camera straight up to photograph the treetops, and this is what I got this year…
I especially try to include the three trees to the right, which have been regular “characters” in the years I’ve spent photographing the place. It’s a unique area, and we enjoy going there.
It’s good to be back writing on Substack after my holiday break! I hope everyone is well. Be extra good to yourselves, follow your bliss, and find joy. Remember to be kind to others, okay? You never know what someone is going through—and we’re all going through a lot these days.
Thank you for visiting From My Acre of the World. I’m happy to share my creative life journey as I connect the dots between life, art, images, the written word, and my creative process. I want to say “Hello” to all my subscribers, followers, and new visitors. I want to thank my subscribers, both paid and free; I truly appreciate your ongoing support, and it means a great deal to me to have you here. My content is always free because I want to reach people and make my work accessible (you can pay if you want to, but there’s no pressure). I always enjoy hearing from you; your comments are pretty special.
The treetops image is beautiful and I loved hearing of the regularity of your visits to them. Thankyou for sharing Laura.
"Make light in the darkness." Indeed! I loved this Laura.