The day is a gray one and bitter cold Wind slapping my face piercingly bold The snow is icy white, the top layer is hard My forced footsteps leave the service scarred
Not a sound is heard, noises freeze in mid air Later the moon exposes that activity was their Some rabbits, deer and even some wolf tracks Leaving me to wonder, are they running in packs
Tired and hungry, I head back to my lodge Safe, yet feeling there is something I just dodged looking out my window I see shadows prowling There they are on the hill, I hear the wolves howling
I saw two fat rabbits running fast on the other side of my fence
Because of the large size that they were, it didn't make any sense
We're in the middle of December so what is it that they eat I feed the birds and squirrels and know nothing of rabbits treats
I see many rabbits eating grass around my house in the summer Finding something to eat throughout the winter must be a bummer
So I did some reading and also lots of researching on the internet
Not having food in the winter for wild rabbits is not a real threat
My home is surrounded by woods and very large fields
Much to my surprise what rabbits eat my land yields
There are plenty of bushes with buds twigs and tree bark
So I'm pleased to be calling it, The Clark Rabbit Park
Author Eileen Clark 2023
Photo by Eileen Clark
The words to describe this long trying dreary day Could be cloudy gloomy dismal and very very gray It's damp here in the house, cold and raining out
A day one could stay in bed, of this I have no doubtSlipping under my covers hoping it will be better in the morning I knew the rain had turned to sleet hitting hard was enough warning Weather like this I've seen before, I'm sure I'll wake up to a freeze
The barometer on my porch shows it's dropping below zero degrees
In the morning my room was bright even through closed drapes A dazzling scene of iced bushes and trees in shimmering shapes Branches were bending and crackling in a slight brisk breeze
Icicle chimes were playing some enchanting winter symphonies
Jack Frost is never heard or seen, But you can tell just where he's been For while your fast asleep at night
He paints the world a sparkling white
His freezing fingers in a trice Turn every puddle into ice Window panes those fingers trace
Fine twinkling patterns just like lace
On silken webs some spiders spun Jack Frost hangs crystals just for fun You can't see jack Frost this is true But he can still reach out to you
So wrap up warm, please take my tip Or you'll feel Jack Frost's icy grip
Author Jillian Harker
Can't you see the big snow flakes coming down The wind is blowing the snow on frozen ground Sitting at the door are you wanting to go out How loud the word no do you want me to shout
It's piling up real fast making big snow banks Staying in this warm house you should give thanks One paw out that door and you would quickly disappear Wait until the Mr. plows a path to make the way clear
Please stop fussing while I wrap you in this warm sweater And you may not like it but this hat makes it even better Your the one snow cat that wants to go out in this blizzard It sure would make me happy if you would just reconsider
Author Eileen Clark 2022
The squirrel will dig a hole deep into the ground Making sure no onlooking predators are around They will dig very deep to hide their nuts and berries Then zig zagging up a tree fast as their legs can carry
The constant moving of their bushy tails often attracts So that running pattern confuses all the dogs and cats Keep those feeders filled when the temperature gets low Squirrels won't have to dig for their stash in the snow
A great deal of time is spent digging, chasing and eating Fall is busy preparing for winter they'll soon be greeting Take some time to notice the antics of the silly squirrel A whole new interesting activity in your life will unfurl
Author Eileen Clark 2022
It's cold outside, the wind is blowing Freeze in the air, soon it will be snowing Nothing can be better on this whole earth Just watching my cats sleeping by the hearth
Many a cat would be filled with delight To be in a warm cozy home for the night But for them it's just a dream far out of sight Only abandonment is to be their plight
All I can offer is this plea to all of you Can you adopt a cat, or maybe even two If you have a cat, can you neuter or spayed By doing this less cats have to be saved
I feel a shiver as I hear the wind howl Oh so many cats tonight out on the prowl I am filled with thankfulness gaiety and mirth As I gaze at my at my sleeping cats by the hearth
Author Eileen Clark 2013
Summer fading, winter comes--
Frosty mornings, tingling thumbs,
Window robins, winter rooks,
And the picture story-books.
Water now is turned to stone
Nurse and I can walk upon;
Still we find the flowing brooks
In the picture story-books.
All the pretty things put by,
Wait upon the children's eye,
Sheep and shepherds, trees and crooks,
In the picture story-books.
We may see how all things are
Seas and cities, near and far,
And the flying fairies' looks,
In the picture story-books.
How am I to sing your praise,
Happy chimney-corner days,
Sitting safe in nursery nooks,
Reading picture story-books?
Robert Louis Stevenson
When I was eight I walked to school in the city of Hartford Connecticut every day with my two older brothers Bernie and Dick. We walked on the cement sidewalks and the rule was, never step on the long crack that separated each sidewalk square. Some of the large cement squares had many cracks in them so it was a real difficult task to keep moving and not step on one of them. You had to keep moving along fast, you couldn’t take your time checking ahead before you put your foot down. You just could not step on one because you would really hurt your mother, that’s what we honestly believed. Quite silly don’t you think, well maybe not all the kids my age played this game.
Our winter boots were always black and for a girl I considered them to be very ugly. We all had them, black up past your ankle rubber boots. Little girls did not have red blue or pink boots back then like they sell today, or possibly it was the not so financially well off kids that didn’t have boots in colors. Thing is, I don’t even remember seeing them in the big department stores. We did most of our shopping in the Sears & Roebucks catalogues and I never saw any pretty boots for kids in them either.
The boots had snap type clamps from the middle to the top and often because it was too much trouble or we were just lazy, we never buckled them up just slipped them on and off we’d go.
I loved to walk on the huge high snow banks along the side of the road where the plow’s piled it up after clearing off the roads. It was fun trudging along on those banks pushing one foot after the other down, my whole leg would be swallowed up into the snow. I had to work hard to pull my leg up and out of the snow wiggling my leg back and forth to pull it up only to clump the other foot and leg down almost to my hips into the snow bank again.
We never gave a thought about the fact that walking on these snow banks was very dangerous and any time we could slip off falling towards the road and oncoming cars would run over us, we would have been killed!
Sure enough it was bound to happen, one day up came my foot with no boot! I quickly looked down the hole that my foot was buried in only to see snow. Of course snow will fall back into the hole as my foot comes up. I frantically searched, pulling snow away with my freezing red numb fingers. I was in a terrified state by now, still pulling snow away from where I thought the hole might have been to where my boot still just might be, all the time knowing I was as good as dead, I couldn’t find my boot.
Yes, my father would kill me when he got home from work. In matters like this, my mother would not kill me, she just got sick. Here’s how it would go, ” I’m sick, you have made me sick over this, I just can’t take any more, now I am sick.” It was right after the second world war and we were poor, everyone was poor for a while in that period of time, so I was not going to get a new pair of boots this winter.
My feet were going to freeze every day back and forth to school, and in the play yard, and in my backyard, and at my girlfriends back yard, all winter long, frozen feet, and of course I did get the spanking from my father that night when he got home from work. He had a brown leather strap hanging on a nail behind the kitchen stove. He made it at his workplace.
My spanking, my mother reminding me that I was indeed killing her, and my feet getting wet and very cold every day, I feel I was duly punished and never walked on snow banks ever again, ever.
On the school shoes the soles would separate because in time the rubber would wear down to the thread and the thick thread holding the two pieces together got exposed and would disintegrate. With every step I took it was flop flop flop, it was embarrassing! My father would glue them together, put a clamp on them, holding them very tight over night so they would be ready to wear the next day. That glue job lasted about a month then came unglued. Mom would say live with it.
All the trees are almost barren, Now I can see farther across the hills. Heavy knit sweaters folks are wearing, Frost each morning sits on my windowsills. Gathering wood for my old iron stove, Hanging bird feeders in a nearby grove. Filling my cup with hot spiced tea, I’ll call on an old friend to share it with me.
Author: Eileen Clark ~ November 2018
Painting ~ Sycamores on Clear Creek, Oil on Canvas
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