I admit to feeling relief when I’ve read about the brutal cold and endless snow that I’ve missed during our North Carolina sojourn. But I’ve missed winter too. And that might explain why I felt like a kid longing for a no-school day when the snow started to fall on Wednesday. I wasn’t thrilled about waking up 
to no power on Thursday, but we’re used to long power outages, and this one was over in the early afternoon. Then the ice turned to huge fluffy flakes, and I was glued to the window again. One full-fledged snowstorm a winter suits me well.
The birds at our feeder acted like they wondered why the heck they were spending the winter in North Carolina when serious snow started falling. Eight cardinals, about twenty white-throated sparrows, some titmice, Carolina chickadees, Carolina wrens, house finches, two towhees, and a couple of bluebirds were flitting in and out of the bushes next to the feeder. When the snow got heavier they perched in the shelter of the bush. I captured a few of them in the photos on this page.
I was definitely in a mood to celebrate the snow when I saw Laura Purdie Salas’ 15 word-or-less poem prompt on Thursday afternoon. Here’s an expanded version of the poem that her snow-cloud prompt inspired:
Recipe for a No-School Day
A bottle of blizzard
A gallon of glee
A bushel of books
A barrel of tea
A cubit of sun
An icicle tree
An acre of forts
A merriest me.
–Buffy Silverman, all rights reserved.
Happy Valentines’ Day, and Happy Poetry Friday! Visit Linda Baie at TeacherDance for a sweet Valentine’s Day Poetry Friday celebration.
Hi, Buffy–I’m back again to say that I’ve nominated you for a Sunshine Award! You can read about it at my post this week–fun if you have time.
Thank you Heidi–I am honored!
I’m pretty sure I have been sitting in snow for nearly two months now. It’s been colder and snowier than usual around here. It’s winter so we just try to make the best of it. I have found joy in the variety of types of snows we’ve experienced this year. Each one has been a bit different from the others. I enjoyed the way your post celebrated the excitement of snow. What better than a bushel of books on a snowy day? The photographs are amazing! Thanks for sharing your winter wonderland with us.
Oh, I love your poem! You captured the joy of a snow day perfectly. We had 2 “snow/ice” days this week, but no snow or ice. I sure did enjoy the time off of work! Thanks for sharing these beautiful photos, too, Buffy!
Thank you, Keri! Glad you enjoyed your time off this week.
Beautiful photos! I love your poem, Buffy! Great rhythm and word choice.
Thank you, Tabatha!
Yea! I finally made it over here! So many good posts on Friday.
I LOVE your recipe! But I think this winter someone has at least doubled the recipe!
Snowing again today. More good cozy time by the woodstove! Lights flickered but we still have power. Hope you stay warm and safe.
And our snow is almost gone–I’ve never seen snow melt this fast! Enjoy your cozy woodstove.
Your poem is perfect! Bushels of books and gallons of tea are at the top of my list on snow days, too! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you Catherine–books and tea make everything fine, don’t they?
Love your emotions for the elements. I enjoyed your photos but feeling guilty about our 80 degree weather. Happy Valentine’s Day, Buffy! <3
Don’t feel guilty, Bridget–enjoy it!
Now that’s one delectable recipe for a no-school day. Sounds like a veritable feast indeed! Stay safe and warm. Happy Valentine’s Day!
Thanks Myra–our snowy feast is melting fast.
What a wonderful recipe for no school fun!
Thanks B.J.–glad you liked it.
What great birdie photos. I miss feeding the birds — we lost our battle with the squirrels and stopped putting out seed. 🙁 Great recipe poem; happy to see the “barrel of tea” especially!
The barrel of tea was in honor of you, Jama!
Jama, there is a cayenne pepper additive you can add to the bird seed. It’s called “squirrel Away.” Birds are not affected by it, but mammals are. It totally did the trick for me.
That’s a great recipe for a no school day!
What great pictures! Thanks for sharing. Love the poem, too, especially this image:
>>An icicle tree<<
Happy Valentine's Day to you!
Thanks Carmela–plenty of icicle trees here, but I think they’ll be gone by tomorrow.
What a lovely poem, Buffy! It really does sound merry.
Thanks Catherine, and thanks for stopping by.
Nice recipe!! Our birds have just begun to emerge from under all the snow – so lovely to see!
It is fun to watch them, isn’t it Tara? Ours were feeding frantically as the snow started to fall.
I have an affinity for birds and I fear they are suffering greatly this winter. The photos, though, give me hope. An excellent post!
Thanks Diane. I think our North Carolina birds are plump and healthy (and eating seed faster than we can fill the feeder.)
Love love love this expanded version, Buffy! It feels so much more complete to me. And your photos are just wonderful.
Thanks, Michelle. Fifteen words is a fun challenge, but often I end up adding more.
Recipe poems seem a little tired to me lately but yours is perfect–really interesting words and properly chosen rhymes. Nice one, Buffy.
Thanks, Heidi–glad you enjoyed it.
And all we received was the cold, last week-now it’s warm, warm, warm! Strange weather, Buffy. Your photos are poetry too! We don’t have the joy of cardinals here in Colorado, and I miss them (grew up in Missouri). Your poem celebrates just right! Happy Valentine’s Day!
Thank you Linda, and thanks for hosting. Today is warm and sunny–the snow is melting fast!
Buffy – so good to hear that the time away from the snow reminds you how much you miss it. Want me to ship you some? I have enough to go around, trust me! Loved the poem!
Thanks Monica. I’ll take a pass on the snow shipping, but I appreciate the offer.
Hi Buffy! I love this–the photos, your description of the snow, and your poem. I love all the units of measurement. Happy snow day.
Thanks Liz. I had fun looking up units of measurement–I thought about fathom instead of cubit, and maybe will change that back.
An icicle tree! Enjoy your snow day.
Our icicle trees are dripping fast!
Happy Valentine’s day, Buffy. We miss you. Thanks for the fun poem and the great pictures. Did you take them through a window or did the birds let you get close to them?
I took them through our bedroom window (with one foot on the bed and the other on the window sill–the bottom part of the windows have screens that can’t come off–one of these days I’m going to crash.) Glad you like the photos. I should probably lighten some of them (Jeff says it’s easy to do, but I have not tried yet.)
Happy Valentine’s Day, Buffy. We miss you. Thanks for the fun poem and the great bird pictures.
“A gallon of glee” sure describes the way I feel about snow days…until we have to make them up! Great poem! Happy Valentine’s Day!
Ahhh…making them up. That will dampen the glee. Thanks for stopping by.
Oh I can just visualize the cozy scene. Lovely poem! (and great bird pics.) A happy Valentine’s Day to you!
Thank you Iza–glad you like the poem!
Love your poem and your photos!
Thanks Vicky–and thanks for stopping by.