Wading into Spring

© harrington

Yes, Virginia, there is open water. Hi! Thanks for stopping by. The photo was taken this afternoon just up the road. The snow highlights the remaining ice cover, which accentuates the open water. We're getting there. I can't decide whether we're sneaking up on Spring or it's sneaking up on us. While walking Franco, the rescue dog, on the way to take this photo, we saw a pair of sand hill cranes fly by. Franco seemed unimpressed. I, on the other hand, seem to have caught crane fever from my wife. In honor of cranes and open water, today let's visit Mary Oliver's Blue Iris, Poems and Essays in which we find:

Grassy Pond, Which Really Is a Swamp

Although it was
   as level
      as anything
         could be

it seemed
   a thousand
      black mirrors
         were trying

to hold me;
   I imagine
      it was just part
         of a swamp's

stickiness
   and general
      entrapment,
         why else

would I have enjoyed
   so much
      sinking
        so deeply

into the mud,
   imagining
      what beautiful baskets
         someone could make

from the rushes,
   why else
      would a bird
         rise up

at just that moment
   white and shining,
      lover of swamps
         with feathers like floss,

looking,
   though long-necked
      and long-winged,
         like a basket
            of flowers?

Oliver: nature literate, place? Clearly. Coyote and bear as totems? Transformation of birds into baskets of flowers, enjoying sinking in mud? Yes. Flowers or egrets as totem? Works for me. Take another look at Snyder's points and see what you think of the rest of them. Thanks for listening. Come again when you can. Rants, raves and reflections (sometimes on open water) served daily here at My Minnesota.