A Walk In The Snow

The snow was beautiful.

The snow was cold.

It was cold out.

The snow was coming down fast.

It was so snowy you could barely see.

It was snowing very fast on one side of the school,

But slow on the other.

Snow falling from the sky,

Different shaped snowflakes,

The snowflakes were the size of nickels.

Pretty exciting that it was snowing,

It felt good to be in the snow once more.

I like it when the snow stings my face.

I liked sticking out my tongue and catching snow.

It was fun tasting snow outside.

I got snow on my tongue and it was cold.

Catching snow with my tongue warmed up my body somehow.

We watched the kindergartens build snow houses,

Building little snowmen houses.

I liked how the native garden was all white,

A big blanket of white covering the garden.

I had fun.

Class Poem

Another discovery,
On the fresh snow,
On the frozen lake.
Tiny,
Like specks of dust,
Springtails,
Completely still,
Then ......... action!!!
One tiny acrobat
Jumping, turning,
Then another,
Followed by another.
Then everything is still again.
But for how long?


A black speck on the snow,
A winged insect,
But how?
Why?
On such a wintry day?
Then a movement,
A vertical take off,
A smooth landing
Close by.


Open water
By the storm drain outlet.
Waiting, watching patiently.
A slight movement,
Then another,
Side swimmers,
Hard to spot.

A walk along the St. Mary River
Past the empty heron nests.
No signs of Canada geese.
A distinctive birdsong
Revealing a water ouzel
On a rock
Near the water's edge.
Momentarily standing still,
Then moving from one spot
To another,
Searching for food?
An amazing bird,
Able to swim underwater
To find food.
Flying to a snowy spot,
Continuing the search
For who knows what?


A long hike
To a viewpoint
Overlooking the river.
Watching the changing light
And the movement of the clouds.
The distant Rockies
Bathed in sunlight one minute,
Then in shadow the next.
Later returning to the riverbank
To discover mallard ducks
Feeding in mid-river.


Shortly after,
Spotting two Canada geese
Floating slowly downstream.
A closer look
Revealing not two,
But three.
A further inspection
Of the opposite shoreline
Uncovering as many as ten,
Sitting, standing, watching.
Did they winter here?
Or somewhere milder?

Just a ponderosa pine,
Standing tall
By the trail.
I wonder
If anyone,
Who stops,
And sits down
On the stone bench,
Ever looks up,
And considers
How many creatures
Call this home?



The Great Kapok Tree,
A story
By Lynne Cherry
About a tree
And all the animals,
That depend on it,
Being threatened,
When two men
Walk into the tropical rainforest.
One man points,
The other
Picks up his axe,
And swings.
Chop! Chop! Chop!
Whack! Whack! Whack!
He becomes tired,
Lies down,
And falls asleep.
Meanwhile,
Many animals,
That depend on the tree
For their survival,
Speak to the man,
While he sleeps.
When he awakes,
It is surprisingly quiet.
Then he notices
All the animals,
And a child
From the Yanomami tribe,
Standing,
Staring at him.
He stands up,
Picks up his axe,
Hesitates,
Looks at all the animals,
And the child.
He drops the axe,
And walks
Out of the rainforest.

A rise in temperature,
A quick thaw,
Pockets of meltwater
On the lake.


A chance to discover
What has happened
To the gas holes,
Which appeared
When the lake
First froze over
Late last year.


Then check out
The water boatmen,
Frozen in the ice,
To see
If they have come alive.
Sadly,
None
Appear to have survived
Anywhere
On the surface
Of the lake.

Then
Caw! caw!
As first one,
Then a second crow
Fly overhead,
Carrying sticks
And grasses
In their beaks,
As they prepare
To build a nest.

Shortly followed
By the call
Of several ducks,
As they look
For somewhere
To land.

Signs that spring
Is not far off?

Yesterday brought
Snow showers.
Meanwhile
Canada geese
Flew overhead,
Honking loudly
On their way
To Elizabeth Lake.


Last night
It dropped
To minus eleven.
But today
Temperatures rose
To four or five above
By mid-afternoon.
These geese
Were two of five,
Who stood patiently
By a puddle
Of meltwater.


The lake
Remains frozen,
But there are signs
That spring
Is almost here,
Judging by
The buds
On the trembling aspen.

On a mild afternoon
We walked
To Elizabeth Lake
For our last trip
Before Spring Break.
As we examined
A blackthorn bush,
We stopped
To listen
To the calls
Of Canada geese.

The snow had gone
From the lake
And the ice
Was covered
In pools
Of surface water.
We saw some gas holes
From the shore.



Shortly after
We were walking
In snow
In the shade
Of the trees,
As we followed the trail
Through the woods.
We spotted
Several nests,
The Bear Claw Tree,
And some tree trunks
Riddled with holes,
Made by woodpeckers.



We had fun
Clambering over fallen trees,
And under broken branches.
Some of us
Even scratched our backs
Against the trunk
Of a young tree
Just like deer.



Just after we rediscovered
The long-deserted beaver lodge,
There was great excitement,
When we found
A deer antler
And part of the jaw
Lying nearby.
A snail shell
Was spotted
Near the lake.

Then we explored
The woods
And some trails
We'd never been on before.
We followed them
Up the slope,
And down again
To the lakeshore.

It will be fun
To come back,
After all the snow
And ice is gone,
And spring is here.

Droplets of rain
Hanging on curved limbs
Of red osier dogwood.


Meanwhile,
A murder of crows
Strangely strutting
Across the ice.


While overhead,
A bald eagle
Circles once,
Then disappears
Into the distance.