Staying Warm

Yesterday, with showers coming in I thought it would be a good time to dump my rain barrels and get the sludge out of the bottom. When I moved the barrel off the brick pad, I noticed a little garter snake stretched across one of the bricks from one hole and down into the other. It was cool and wet, and he was trying to stay warm. I nudged it thinking it would crawl out and slither away, but to my surprise it coiled tighter and drew itself all the way down into only one of the one-inch holes. I left him there and set the barrel back up.

Cool Spring rain falling

Little garter snake hunkers down

trying to stay warm

**

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Battle of the Ants

Yesterday as I enjoyed a warm Spring day, I noticed two ants that seemed to be sparring with each other. For a while, they seemed to lock antennae and dance around like boxers in a ring. Since nothing much was happening, I went back to what I was doing.

The next time I looked down one ant had his jaws locked in a death grip on the other. He was still dancing around as a couple of other ants came and seemed to be taunting him. Interestingly, he did not seem to be able to let go of the other ant as you can see in the bottom photo. Even after a piece broke off the other ant, he still held on like it was locked into him. He finally disappeared over the stone ledge and into the flowerbed below.

Ants battle for position

Locked in mortal combat grip.

Much like we humans

Photos: Dwight L. Roth

Celebration

Spring celebration!

Flowers bloom Palms wave

Halleluiahs ring

*

Palm Sunday welcome

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

 

 

 

 

Echoes of Spring

Oak trees morn of lost souls gone

gathered around the empty lot

*

House and family where life was vibrant

now lost to time in the early dawn

*

But dark of winter has lost its hold

Earth warms // February’s gold grows brighter

*

White lion of spring loosens earth’s grasp

Bursting bulbs challenging winter’s cold…

*

As every spring the Narcissus bloom

resurrecting memories of the past

*

Golden echoes of a happy home

And flowers gone too soon

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Today at d’Verse, Merril gave us a Daffodil prompt. From a list of names for daffodil varieties and asked us to use at least three or more  in a poem of our choosing. I decided to write about an empty lot along the road where a house once stood. In the early spring daffodils still come up and bloom at the site.

Join us at https://dversepoets.com

Spring Treat

Fresh sweet strawberries

Homemade crust topped with whipped cream

Tickles my tastebuds

*

Yum!!

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Prelude to Spring

Daffodils

Nature’s smiling faces

Prelude to Spring

Photos: Dwight L. Roth

I had to get out and take some photos of these beauties this morning! They are such a wonderful site to see when I look out my back window! I hope they warm your heart as well!

Winter Flowers

Daffodils are one of my favorite flowers. The bulbs begin pushing through the ground in the heart of winter. Every warm day in January brings the shoots up higher and higher. By the first of February yellow heads are ready to pop open. They are short-lived, but are a hopeful reminder that spring is not far away.

Hardy green shoots

push up through cold winter leaves

Yellow blossoms shine

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Today at d’Verse, Frank asked us to write a Haibun that uses a form of the word heart!

Join us at: https://dversepoets.com

First Blooms

If you follow my blog, you may remember that I attempted to save my three little Hibiscus over the winter by keeping them in my garage. Now that the frost is no longer a threat, I planted them in my flower bed. They immediately started forming heads and today they began blooming, even before they have developed much green foliage. They are so beautiful. I am glad they survived the winter hibernation!

Beauty blooms in pairs

Surviving hibernation

Lesson for us all

iphone photos today: Dwight L. Roth

Silent Voices

Spring slams its door on winter’s icy blast

Calling the groundhog from its dark burrow

And snowbirds to make their way North again

As green shoots push their way up through dead grass

A symphony of yellow daffodils

Lift their silent voices in joyous song

Basking in warm blue skies and bright sunshine

While my tiny little wren sings happy trills

The hope of spring comes with evening frog songs

Rising from muck and mud to let us know

Their blended harmonies; Nature’s foreplay,

continues from pond and tree all night long

Flowers bloom, Russian tanks invade Ukraine

to satisfy Putin’s lust for power

***

Daffodil Photos from my back yard today: Dwight L. Roth

Out of Compost …Life

Up from the compost comes new life

Some look forward to a long cold winter

I look forward to the flowers blooming in Spring

Daffodils can’t wait for winter’s cold to shine

In the midst of the rot and rubble they take root

Pushing upward with every warm day of Winter

Reminding me that it is not the losses of Summer

Nor the shedding of leaves in Autumn

But rather, hope lies in the eternal promise of Spring

As up from the compost comes new life

Pushing winter on its way

Yesterday I noticed that the daffodils were already pushing their way up through the dead leaves. Our temperatures have been above normal, so they have started to reach for the sun. It will be another month or two till we see blossoms, but to see them there reminds me that Spring is not that far away, and there is life and promise for 2022!  Hopefully we too can gather strength and new life from the compost of 2021!

Photo taken this morning: Dwight L. Roth