Snow, Yes or No?

 

The Snow, Like it or Not

Snow is magical to children of all ages,

Yet the likeability of snow is a bell curve, and here are the stages:

Toddlers and children under 5, get quite uncomfortable and want to go inside,

They are too young to care about a long sled ride,

But from 6-12 years, there is increasing joy,

Snowman, snow angels, and sledding create fun- for any girl or boy,

The teenager years are inspired by snowball fights, snowboarding and being out of school,

They can withstand the freezing conditions, because they are so cool,

The twenties are for skiing down the black slopes without fear,

Hot cocoa, however, is wonderful no matter what the year,

In the 30’s, having kids of one’s own brings back the first two stages,

But by the 40’s, there is a decline in the enthusiasm and a loss of wages,

In one’s 50’s-60’s, snow can be a big pain in the backside,

Shoveling snow and navigating ice, slipping and falling is the downside,

By the 70’s-80’s, snow is pretty to look at, but practically isolates one in the house,

Just like the babies and toddlers or the bear and the dormouse,

Of course, there are exceptions to every snow-stage rule,

Occasional snow is awesome, but I’m no snow-loving fool,

I’m in my 60’s and the last part of that bell curve,

But I hope everyone gets the amount of snow they deserve.

Tammy Harvey

Written:  01/22/2022

Little Shoe Where are you?

 

The Shoe Caper

After a hectic morning, she pulled into the parking space with a sigh,

In the backseat were a five-year-old and 2-year-old little guy,

The morning had been spent attending a drive-thru Birthday,

A pandemic had caused the celebration to be that way,

Her older son jumped out of the car ready for the playground,

The younger boy was without shoes… so she began to look around,

Her friends and their children were patiently waiting,

As she dug through the car, frantic and to herself debating,

She knew she had them in the car earlier that day,

Or did she? Really? She was in dismay,

One of his shoes was all she could find,

Was the other hidden somewhere?  Was she just going blind?

Down on her knees, she looked under the car,

This whole scenario was becoming quite bazaar,

She asked her friends to go on ahead,

As she pondered what to do next instead,

She got back into the car, after her options were weighed,

Retracing her day was the decision she made,

The shoe must have fallen out somewhere along the way,

Embarrassed, she drove to the location of the Birthday,

But alas, there was no shoe on that street,

And the little boy still had no shoes on his feet,

Was it left at home?  Was she losing her mind?

How could this happen?  Where was it left behind?

Before becoming a parent, she wondered how essential items were lost,

Now she knew the frustrating reality of how things get tossed,

One more stop, to try and recover from her ordeal,

It was a pitstop they had made for potty-training was real,

Several miles away, behind the Food Lion, she spotted it there,

The matching shoe was lost in an effort to get down the underwear!

They returned to the park, as her friends were now departing,

But her boys got to play, their outside time was finally starting!

Tammy Harvey

Written:  1/22/2022

Kodak Moments

 

Picture It

An ocean of photographs and I sit in the sand,
Surrounded by memories I can hold in my hand,
The 70’s, the 80’s, the 90’s and beyond are all stacked up high,
Stories told by photographs of days gone by,
Memories of weddings, vacations, accomplishments, milestones,
Birthdays and holidays: Kodak moments, without cellphones!
I don’t take for granted a photo available in an instant,
Even a Polaroids required us to wait for a minute,
Countless photos are taken each day with cellphones everywhere,
Today they are texted, posted on social media, e-mailed, without a care,
Photos I hold were a process of tasks: film loaded, shot, rewound, and then development,
The blurry, the overexposed, the red-eyed results: all were a huge disappointment,
There were no do-overs and no immediate gratification,
Just a wish and a prayer they would meet my expectation,
In a mailer: the film cannisters enclosed with a check,
Then forgotten until later, nothing too high-tech,
If it had been as easy then, as now, to get the perfect image,
I wonder if these treasured photos would feel so vintage.

 
Tammy Harvey
Written: 1/15/2022

Weeping Willow

 

Tears of Joy
Why does the weeping willow weep?
Maybe it is just asleep?
Casting its long, thin branches to the ground,
The wind blows its wispy tendrils around,
It stands by the river in a picturesque scene,
With a natural whimsy, if you know what I mean,
Instead of reaching for the sky, like other trees,
It is bending down as if on its knees,
Touching its branch tips into the water rushing by,
If it is weeping, I don’t feel it is a sorrowful cry,
I feel it is weeping for joy – that weeping willow tree,
It all depends on how we perceive it to be,
A cry of cheer,
A joyful tear,
That weeping willow tree, on its knees, perhaps is saying a prayer,
A prayer of thanksgiving for the peacefulness there,
For the rain,
For the water to sustain,
Happy and yet weeping,
God’s promises He is keeping,
To nourish and flourish that weeping willow tree,
Just as He does for you and for me.

Tammy Harvey
Written: 1/20/2022

Jeremiah 29:11