Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Permafrost?


There is something to be said for the swirling Arctic Vortex  --  unendurabe; a cyclonic mass of frigid air covering the continent in thick bricks of ice, impenetrable walls, intricate stalactites.

A New Age that bears no resemblance to mystical incense and tranquilizing tone poems on Pan pipes, Chakras sparkling like the Aurora Borealis, or the gentle aspects of the slightly blemished pear, organically farmed, juicy with pectin and pesticide-free pulp.

But I am not inclined to say or think anything about the more obvious conditions of New Age weather. Rather, I am drawn to images and sound -- or the lack of them.

From my window I see a few humans, their wraps and mufflers masking features, gender almost indistinguishable, soldiering like Emperor Penguins, teeter-tottering on sheets of glass.
Their movements are bizarre, their breath quiet, tentative, wary, like their steps.

In the worst of the cold there is profound silence. An occasional hum of existence punctuated by the crackle of air; vodka hitting ice cubes in a warm Old-Fashioned tumbler.

People don't say much out there. Frozen words, sounds, sighs sit suspended like forgotten laundry on a clothesline, too fragile and brittle to move.

Under and over the skyline comes the wind. Not Sandburg's Fog -- on "little cat feet" --  but a Soviet Bear, heavyset, thunderous in its squat blue-blasting breath, stinging barbs, making cheeks and foreheads run red with Revolution.

In Dallas they whisper, "Hello, Comrade, welcome 2014."


3 comments:

  1. Brrrr! Your images are the very thing to sum up this nasty weather. It even got to 4 here in my part of GA. At least it's going. Today we got above freezing. I kid you not!

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  2. Dear Zan Marie,

    I am chuckling for sure. The weather here is heading for mild temperatures this weekend, but a woeful amount of rain. I can see flooding in view. That being said, the twenty degree rise in temps (from Hell to simply cold) means everyone is talking bathing suits. It's all relative.

    I am positive, however, that if this continues -- bizarre weather -- cities with bubkes for snow removal budgets will have to start considering the very real possibility of needing monster equipment normally reserved for polar bear counties.
    Nice to hear from you, and continued good wishes on your new book!

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  3. Very apt that I'm reading this today, Carol, when it's back to c. -25 out there... Shiver! Oh for a fireplace and a day off to read...

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