Happy Flashback Friday, Copper Country! Can you believe we’re heading into the fall break and sliding into December? Okay, maybe “sliding” is a bad term after during this awkward transition from fall to true Yooper winter. There’s certainly been a lot of feelings shared around town about the rain, sleet, and snow; not to forget the slush and ice impacting our daily routines.
With that in mind we’re keeping things simple and optimistic this Flashback Friday with a lovely historic view of a freshly snow-covered Mont Ripley from 1956 and a wonderful little poem about winter and the promise of spring. Just remember, there’s always beauty, not just cold, to be found in those wintry months ahead.
Winter
Brusso, Clifton. Tales from the U.P.’s Copper Country. Laurium, MI: Iroquois Press, 1992.
We listen not to the quiet sound,
as crystal leaves drift slowly down,
and softly caress the cold, bright ground.
Life asleep in their far flung home,
others seeking as they roam,
for food and shelter, the woods they comb.
Carried aloft on air currents they fly,
spotting for prey they spy,
ever alert with a sharpened eye.
From the North comes a frigid blast,
freezing and biting are the winds that last,
caring not who…through this scheme they’ve past.
Rays of light seldom are seen,
shadowy trees interspaced with green,
silver creeks with their icy screen.
Months later, bright warmth melting the snow,
rains lashing out helping it go,
golden skies seen through a rainbow.
Children playing in muddy fields,
to Spring winds, Winter, grudgingly yields,
and new life upward slowly steals.