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Tramontane

Posted in Lessons of the Drum, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 16, 2023| 10 Comments »

Alberta is dry.

A heat dome has settled over our province. 

The prairie has been an arid desert.

Dust hangs in the air and silt blows through any cracks and crevices of the house to rest indoors on my furniture.

Our northern forests are ablaze.

In the news, no one reports on the arson which caused this fiery tragedy up north, on any charges laid or on the perpetrator(s) set free until their court date arrives. In the midst political campaigns, they’d rather call it global warming than tell the truth.  It’s just more of the same political rhetoric.

Meanwhile, fire fighters are busy trying to fight fires and farmers are busy trying to seed their crops.  Cattlemen and women are busy tending to their cow/calf operations. People are busy living their lives both in rural and urban areas.  At this point, most Albertans have probably already decided on which candidate they will vote for and don’t care about two women fighting over who will reign as Premier in our province. But, the political force with their mudslinging and bluster has left a foul odor in the air.

Today, a barbarous cold wind blew in from the north.  They call the wind, Tramontane.

With flying hooves, Tramontane carried smoke from the north, across central Alberta and delivered it south.

The smell of smoke and fire troll mingles with dust to smudge our province of negativity. Once the foul political odor is removed from the air, I’m sure it will rain.

Tramontane, the north wind, promises a change in weather. 

Around here, all of the crops are in the ground.  They would definitely benefit from some moisture as would the rest of our province.

Alberta needs rain.

And, when it does, I’m going to dance like nobody’s watching!

Hang on a second, let me correct that, why wait?

I’m going to go out in that smudgy, windy air and do a rain dance with Tramontane like no one is watching right now!

I hope you’ll join with me in the dance where ever you reside.  The more the merrier! Let’s make it rain, just dance!

The North winds moral lesson is that kind and gentle persuasion always wins over force and bluster.

(May whomever aspires to reign over our province in the future consider the above lesson.)

 

Thank-you for following, reading, sharing and commenting – The Trefoil Muse

 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tramontane (/trəˈmɒnteɪn/ trə-MON-tayn)[a] is a classical name for a northern wind. The exact form of the name and precise direction varies from country to country. The word came to English from Italian tramontana, which developed from Latin trānsmontānus (trāns- + montānus), “beyond/across the mountains”,[1][2][3] referring to the Alps in the North of Italy. The word has other non-wind-related senses: it can refer to anything that comes from, or anyone who lives on, the other side of mountains, or even more generally, anything seen as foreign, strange, or even barbarous.
The journey of “tramontane” into English starts in Latin and begins with the coming together of the prefix trans-, meaning “across” or “beyond,” and montanus, meaning “of a mountain.”

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Prairie Crocus

Posted in Short Stories, tagged , , , , , , on May 10, 2023| 9 Comments »

There are swaths of purple gracing the prairie pastures as crocus bloom.

I found these on a road less traveled.

As you can see, the blooming period of the crocus is coming to an end. I hope you enjoyed this little piece of the wild prairie!

Thank-you for following, reading, sharing and commenting – The Trefoil Muse

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A Feathered Friend

Posted in Lessons of the Drum, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 25, 2023| 8 Comments »

Three weeks ago, a foggy mist of milk white hid the horizon. It was still cold. Spring was here but the tendrils of winter were loath to release their taunting grip on the prairie.

Many migrating birds were overhead.  I knew this because I could hear them.

I always tend to marvel at the ability of migratory birds especially, their instinctual ability to navigate blindly through inclement weather and unseen territory while they fly toward their new destinations.

I heard familiar honking in the distance. The recognizable sound was that of the Canadian Geese as they arrived in droves while fog shrouded the land. Other flocks of migratory birds were also flying in. Their types were harder to discern with listening ears because the opaque wall inhibited any clear view of the arriving birds and muffled the sounds of their songs.

The misty cold weather was surreal. Unending fog can be depressing to some but I enjoy the damp, cool weather and find the wall of cloudy white strangely comforting, even safe. I like the idea of disappearing behind a veil of white.  It’s private. I especially like walking in the fog, mainly because I am obliged to use my other senses and am forced to pay closer attention to what’s in my immediate circle during the hours before the fog relents to the rays of the mid-day sun.

But, that day, I was imagining what it would be like to spread open the white wall of fog with my hands as if it were curtains and step through it.  I was wondering if it would it be a clear day or magical world on the other side of the curtains when a knock interrupted my whimsy.

Knock, knock.

Knock.

“What’s knocking at my front door, it’s not like a knocking that I’ve heard before,” I wondered. (more…)

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Wordless Wednesday

Posted in Media Room, tagged , , , , , , , on April 19, 2023| 6 Comments »

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White Rabbits

Posted in Short Stories, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 4, 2023| 13 Comments »

White rabbits, white rabbits; spring arrives; winter weather lifts; and there are white rabbits everywhere! 

Rabbits are prolific creatures. There are so many of them here that it is near impossible to count their numbers.

The rabbit symbolizes fertility, luck, creativity, compassion and intuition.  Rabbits are associated with springtime and new beginnings. They are happy reminders that life is full of possibilities. A rabbit’s foot is a lucky token and rabbits are considered symbols of fortune.

But with the appearance of all these rabbits, is it possible our home has undergone a takeover by Easter Bunny Central?

We have a profound conglomeration of long-eared, fluffy-white-tailed creatures hopping around our farmyard and nearby fields.

The majority of rabbits inhabiting the farm are jackrabbits but somewhere during the winter months a bush bunny family moved in as well.

Bush bunnies, otherwise known as mountain cottontail are the only true rabbit in Alberta.  Despite its name, it is not actually found in our mountains. It is restricted to the prairie regions of the province, where it can be found in areas with sufficient brushy cover. I suspect our newly arrived cottontails fled from a nearby coulee to take up residence in our hedges mid winter. 

I usually spot my little bush bunny or cottontail friends closer to the house not far from the hedges, whereas, their larger counterparts, the jackrabbits like kibitzing out in the open.

Jackrabbits, otherwise known as snowshoe hares, are larger than rabbits, have longer hind legs and longer ears.  An interesting fact to note is that rabbits or baby bunnies are born hairless and blind whereas baby hares, (called leverets) are born with fur, can see, and are mobile within an hour of birth.  As well, hares turn from brown in the summer to white in the winter; rabbits do not. 

Our prairie jackrabbits are well camouflaged during seasonal changes.  Right now, most of them are still wearing their white jackets and blend in with the white covered landscape.  Some have begun to shed their white fur and have a brown patchy appearance and are hard to see against the barren spring earth.   Jackrabbits will hide among and under rocks, outbuildings, hollow logs, and other covered spaces or even in plain sight. When faced with danger, rabbits tend to freeze and/or run for cover, while hares will usually try to run away and out maneuver their pursuer. 

The jackrabbits around here love to taunt my dogs.  They have even been known to run right through our legs during a daily walk to induce a game of tag.  Jackrabbits can run up to 55 km/h (34 mph) and can leap up to five meters (16 feet 5 inches)!  They are agile athletes who elude predators from following their scent through a series of large bounds, sometimes even moving at right angles to their previous direction. My poor good natured dogs don’t stand a chance.  They get out distanced and out maneuvered by the jackrabbits during every competition.  Still, they love the chase and it seems to be great exercise for both the rabbits and the dogs.

To be honest, I find the bush bunnies to be much cuter than the jackrabbits but the jackrabbits have afforded me plenty of comic relief over the years due to their antics with my dogs and their Easter exercise regimes. 

To be a successful Easter Bunny candidate, one must assume that a rabbit or hare needs to be white or well camouflaged, agile and fleet of foot to deliver all of those chocolaty candy eggs across the Alberta prairie.

The training sessions around here must have produced plenty of successful Easter Bunnies and gained popularity with the rabbit populous. Rabbits have great listening skills and word seems to have spread that our remote Easter Bunny Central location is top notch. It seems very fortuitous that more and more white rabbits keep appearing from out of nowhere. 

With all of these white rabbits hopping around, I’m beginning to feel like Alice in Wonderland.

Which makes me wonder; if I utter the words white rabbit three times will they all magically disappear like a puff of smoke to be hare today and gone tomorrow? Or have I myself fallen into a rabbit hole?

Happy Easter every bunny!

Thank-you for following, reading, sharing and commenting – The Trefoil Muse

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Chasing Winter Blues

Posted in Lessons of the Drum, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on January 17, 2023| 10 Comments »

I am chasing the winter blues.

It’s hard to create a work of art when you are feeling under the weather.  Fever and delirium make sentences nonsensical. Your spirit seems to float away from your body – out of this world.  You feel completely disconnected. The most talented of artists use the dark times in their lives to create beauty.  It takes fortitude and resilience to recover from illness let alone create art. 

I haven’t been feeling well – not at all. 

I am not a good patient.  I do not like being under the weather, I’d rather be in it, outside in nature.

The blues are pulling at me like a magnet.  I can see them from my window. They taunt me as they dance and skip along the snow drifts daring me to catch them.

The day is early.  The sun is only beginning to rise.  I slog into my winter gear surprised that I am not collapsing under its weight and head out the door.

The air hangs softly in the distance a paler color of white than the snow lying on the ground. ‘Angel’s breath,’ I smile at the thought of it as some blue disappears with the sun’s first rays.

‘Most people chase rainbows in order to discover magic and I’m out chasing the blues. But, why limit one’s self,’ I think bemused. (more…)

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Nostalgia

Posted in Short Stories, tagged , , , , , , , , , on November 22, 2022| 13 Comments »

A pale dawn arises,

Snow falls,

Sullen shadows cascade across the land,

Images cold against glittering drifts,

A terrain flash-frozen,

No layers of warmth will cushion heartaches pain,

In winter,

When the wind bites,

Nostalgia quietly visits.

 

Thank-you for following, reading, sharing and commenting – The Trefoil Muse

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Hydrotherapy

Posted in Short Stories, tagged , , , , , , , , on August 9, 2022| 10 Comments »

When it’s 32 degrees Celsius (86.9 F) but feels like 36 (96.8 F) and a sirocco is blowing across the prairie; you know that Mother Nature’s dehydrator has kicked in.  During such heat waves, one must be sure to drink plenty of fluids and attempt to stay cool – hydration is the key unless you want to whither up like a piece of dried up old jerky!

Many people suffer immeasurably during summer months due to the onslaught of intense, desert like heat waves so they head to a body of water or a beach to help keep their body hydrated and their heads cool.

Hydrotherapy is the use of water to treat a disease or to maintain health.

The theory behind hydrotherapy is that water has many properties that give it the ability to heal. Water can store and carry heat and energy. Likewise, water can cool. It can also dissolve other substances, such as minerals and salts.

Hydrotherapy, formerly called hydropathy or water cure, is a branch of alternative medicine, occupational therapy, and physiotherapy, that involves the use of water for pain relief and treatment.

Drinking water also assists in maintaining mental clarity but, the sound of water can be calming and bring a sense of balance to one’s spirit when the day is just too hot to handle.

If my mental demeanor is at stake because life has become too fiery, I find the sound of water soothing. However, when Mother Nature’s dehydrator is full throttle, I enjoy going for a nice cool swim in order to refresh, calm and maintain my health.

Water heals.

The picture below is my idea of hydrotherapy on a day where it’s 32 degrees Celsius but feels like 34 with a dehydrating sirocco breeze on the prairie.

 

If a sirocco visits your area firing up your daily life until it’s too hot to handle, try hydrotherapy.

Ease your pain; take the first step; get wet; just plunge in; let water heal you.

 

 

Thank-you for following, reading, sharing and commenting – The Trefoil Muse

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Wordless Wednesday

Posted in Compositions, tagged , , on August 3, 2022| Leave a Comment »

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No Words

Posted in Short Stories, tagged , , , , , , on July 26, 2022| 17 Comments »

I have no words today.

I’ve been off…

Gathering;

Sights,

Sounds,

Smells,

From an acrid landscape once purple on the horizon now turned emerald green.

Humidity drips from the atmosphere, as wildflowers dance and sway, perfuming the breeze.

The air is filled with music the song birds sing as they perch on branches laden with berries these bushes bring.

Bees hum in harmony in tune with the song, collecting sweet nectar as they work along.

On the grassland beyond, graze antelope and deer. 

And, a coyote and pups yip happily from their den near here.

I lay back quietly on this quilt made of grass and soak in the scene as I contemplate what words would describe what happiness means. 

So grateful am I for the serenity this Prairie Oasis brings.

Yes, I must apologize for my lack of words,

 And, as for descriptions,

There’s simply not one single thing to describe,

Peace

On

Earth.

I’m off today, gathering – words.

 

 

Thank-you for following, reading, sharing and commenting – The Trefoil Muse

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