5.5 miles
bottom of franklin hill
6 degrees
100% snow-covered
A fine mist of snow. A few patches of ice, some slight slips. Cold. Fresh air. Sun behind clouds. For the first mile I didn’t see anyone else on the trails. Then, a few runners and walkers. No bikers or skiers. Sometimes I felt strong, sometimes I felt sore, all the time I was happy to be out there by the gorge.
today’s small victories: wasn’t sure how far I’d run but made it to the bottom of the hill. Almost stopped to walk near the top for a minute, but didn’t, kept going until the bottom. Ran from the bottom to under franklin — 3/4 of the hill — instead of walking like I planned
10 Wintery Things
- patches of ice on sidewalk that wasn’t shoveled
- cold air on my face — not quite cold enough to give me a brain freeze or to freeze the snot in my nose
- small, soft flakes or freezing rain freezing on my eyelashes
- the sharp thrust, grinding noise combo of feet walking on snow
- the river: a mix of white ice and dark (purple?) open water
- white, heavy sky
- bird song: cheese burger cheese burger
- the bluff on the other side of the river: a mix of white with bare brown branches
- all of the walking trails were covered in a few inches of snow, some of it untouched, some marked by tracks — feet and skis
- leaned over the wall in the flats and listened — a soft, sharp tinkling of snow hitting the ice on the surface of the river
Discovered Lee Ann Roripaugh’s awesome collection #string of pearls yesterday through her poem, #meteorology on poems.com. I’m thinking of buying the collection. Here are a few bits of it — it’s all tankas — that I thought of during my winter run:
from #meteorology/ Lee Ann Roripaugh
yesterday’s snow sleeps :: late this morning in quiet :: white sheets / while rickety
trees comb out fog’s heavy shanks :: of tangled, unruly hair
*
as gusted leaves buzz :: and whorl over snow-sugared :: roofs / but oh! this blown
fluttering’s not a swirling :: of leaves, but winter sparrows
~
ugh! snotted hoody :: pinkened tinge faint litmus stain :: (yes or no / minus
or plus) watercoloring :: blown-through tissues / torn storm blooms
*
wet-dark tree beaded :: in pearled bits of wintry mix :: excited finch swoops
in manic parabolas :: to sip from the leaky eaves’
icicle /
the purple hour
2:40 am — dining room
too restless to notice or think about anything . . . purple mauve lavender orchid magenta is this restlessness a light or dark purple? whatever it is, it’s thick
3:15 am — bedroom floor
shadows slats moon carpet
the slats are soft, barely visible
the shadow of the lamp, its long neck, and something else. the cup? tin of nuts? nope the arm of the sofa
the moon — so bright! how many more days of this moon? this clear sky?
*
- grape jelly
- eggplant, japanese
- eggplant, italian
- plum
- pansy
- Daphne’s dress (Scooby Doo)
- Violet’s turning violet!
- purple banana
- hubba bubba (grape)
- grape juice
- raisins
- easter dress
- FWA’s favorite color
- purple toe
- vikings
- Barney
- Dino (Flintstones)
- Professor Plum