(Photo by Ryoji Iwata on Unsplash)
Rain
by Dawn Pisturino
Drizzling rain
On the windowpane
Calms my stormy brain,
Bringing sunshine again.
~
My husband and I have both been going stir crazy with the gloomy, rainy weather. Plus, it’s freezing cold!
We welcome the sunshine!
Dawn Pisturino
January 20, 2023
Copyright 2023 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.
Autumn to Winter
by Dawn Pisturino
The old year is fading
and Autumn blows
the misty clouds
of Winter our way.
My parents always came for Thanksgiving. Now that they are gone, I always think of them at this time of year.
Oh come, let us sing to the LORD! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the LORD is the great God, and the great King above all gods. In His hand are the deep places of the earth; the heights of the hills are His also. The sea is His, for He made it; and His hands formed the dry land.
PLEASE NOTE: I WILL NOT BE POSTING ANYTHING UNTIL SOME TIME NEXT WEEK.
Have a joyful and blessed Thanksgiving!
~
Dawn Pisturino
November 23, 2022
Copyright 2022 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.
Springtime
by Dawn Pisturino
Springtime struggles to survive
The clasping arms of winter,
Stirring up the honey-hive
And bringing forth the flower.
She hastens to restore the sun:
The melting snows recede;
And when the sap begins to run,
The worm returns to feed.
A flock of sparrows in the sky;
A big, red-breasted robin
Perched to catch a passing fly,
His little heart a-throbbin’.
Daffodils with yellow heads
Bobbing in a row;
Rich brown fields and grassy beds
Waiting for the plow.
Winter, dying in the wake
Of Springtime’s warmer rain,
Thaws the river and the lake
And disappears again.
February 21, 1986
Published in World of Poetry Anthology, 1987 and Best New Poets of 1988.
Copyright 1986 – 2022 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.
(Photo from Mental Floss)
Today, we wait with bated breath for Punxsutawney Phil to emerge from his burrow and decide whether to hibernate for another six weeks or to celebrate that an early spring is coming!
This annual ritual was borrowed from the Pennsylvania Dutch (Amish and Mennonite) farmers in Pennsylvania and dates back to the 1800s. Rumor has it that if Phil sees his shadow, we will have six more weeks of winter. If he doesn’t, an early spring is on its way. Allegedly, Punxsutawney Phil’s predictions have a 39% accuracy rate. Not too cool, Phil!
But, whatever he predicts, this fat, over-sized rodent is a fun way to mark the middle of winter. After all, the Spring equinox will arrive no matter what Phil says!
Here’s a cute video by CGP Grey which explains Groundhog Day:
And don’t forget to watch Bill Murray in the hilarious 1993 comedy, Groundhog Day!
Groundhog Day, if nothing else, is a great excuse to party!
Happy Groundhog Day!
Dawn Pisturino
February 2, 2022
Copyright 2022 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.
by Dawn Pisturino
One winter night, Sammy Mouse ran away from home. He wanted to go to the North Pole and see Santa Claus. So he put his clothes in a suitcase, bundled up in his heavy winter coat, left a note for his parents, and sneaked out of the house.
Sammy peered into the darkness, shivering with cold. Up above, millions of stars looked down at him. Sammy trudged through the snow, guided by the light of the full moon.
Sammy thought about all the wonderful things he would do for Santa Claus: help the elves make toys, feed the reindeer, and pack Santa’s sleigh.
When Santa Claus was ready to leave, Sammy would jump into the sleigh and sit beside him on the seat. Santa would laugh, “ho-ho-ho,” and Sammy would laugh, too. Then, up in the air they would go. Sammy would look down at all the little houses below.
When Santa’s reindeer landed on a snowy rooftop, Sammy would help Santa climb out of the sleigh. He would help Santa lift his big bag of toys and watch him slide down the chimney. Then, off they would go again!
Sammy walked a long time through the snow. When the sun began to shine, Sammy could walk no more. He curled up under a log and fell asleep.
When he woke up, Sammy’s stomach growled with hunger. He nibbled on a piece of cheese and hurried on his way. He wanted to get to Santa’s house before nightfall. Tonight was Christmas Eve.
But the longer he walked, the more tired Sammy felt. Everywhere he looked, he saw trees and snow. Where was Santa’s house? Where was the North Pole?
As night fell, Sammy began to get scared. Christmas was almost here, and he had not yet reached Santa’s house or the elves’ workshop or even the North Pole!
Sammy sat down in the snow and cried. He was wet and cold and hungry. He was tired, and his feet hurt. Worst of all, Sammy was lost!
Overhead, the stars seemed to be laughing at him. The man in the moon wore a big, shiny grin. Suddenly, Sammy heard bells jingling. Up in the sky, he saw Santa’s sleigh and eight reindeer flying past the moon. Sammy’s heart sank. Now, he would miss Christmas.
But wait, here was Santa’s sleigh coming right toward him! Sammy could hardly believe his eyes when the sleigh landed in the snow.
“Jump in, Sammy,” Santa said, smiling brightly.
Sammy jumped eagerly into the sleigh next to Santa. “Where are we going?” he asked.
“We’re going to take you home,” Santa answered.
The reindeer began to run across the snow faster and faster until suddenly, they were flying up into the sky!
Up, up, up they went. Sammy looked down. The trees in the forest looked like frosty toothpicks. The moon and stars grew bigger and brighter.
“Ho-ho-ho!” Santa laughed, his belly shaking.
“Ho-ho-ho!” Sammy laughed.
Before he knew it, Sammy was home. He helped Santa fill the stockings and put special gifts under the Christmas tree. He made sure he didn’t see what Santa had brought him.
When Santa was ready to slide up the chimney, Sammy said, “Oh, thank you, Santa!”
Santa laughed and shook Sammy’s paw. “You’re welcome, my little friend. Merry Christmas!”
In a flash, Santa was gone. But Sammy could hear reindeer hooves on the roof, and he never forgot the sound of the bells jingling on Santa’s sleigh.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Dawn Pisturino
Copyright 2014-2021 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.
The first white snow of winter
Falls softly on the ground;
The world looks like a fairy land
With snowflakes all around;
The trees dress up like fairies
Dancing on the snow: —
Magic happens everywhere
The fairies dance, you know.
I love the first white winter storm,
The air is cold and frosty;
I stay indoors where it is warm,
But through the windows I can see
How suddenly the world turns white
And disappears beneath the snow;
The season changes overnight
From autumn’s bright to winter’s glow.
by Dawn Pisturino, 1985.
For my daughter, Ariel.
Copyright 1985-2021 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.
Delaware Territory 1755
Nunganey trudged through the crusty snow searching for signs of beaver and other game. He longed for a blazing fire and his mother’s warm smile. But the villagers were counting on the hunters — the best of the tribe — to bring back fresh meat.
“Turn back!” shouted his father over the rising wind as a shower of white flakes fluttered down from the sky.
Nunganey’s heart dropped with disappointment. There would be no fresh meat. His younger brothers and sisters would cry with disappointment when their mother served hot watery broth, brewed from old bones, and meager portions of mashed acorns for dinner. His own hunger raged inside of him, and he longed for a piece of fat beaver cooked over a hot fire.
Suddenly, one of the hunters shouted, “Raccoon tracks!”
Nunganey’s father pointed at an old tree with a large hole in the center of the trunk. “Nunganey, follow those tracks and see if the raccoons have taken shelter in that tree.”
With the wind and snow blowing in his face, Nunganey followed the tiny footprints to the old tree, but the tracks led deeper into the forest. He knew he should turn back, but the boy was determined to find the raccoons.
The tracks disappeared at the base of another large tree. Nunganey climbed up the tree and peered into a large hole. He had found the raccoons!
“Yohoh!” he called into the wind. “Yohoh!”
Shivering with cold, Nunganey clung to the tree and waited for a response. He called again, trying to shout louder than the wind, but no familiar voice shouted back.
Where were his father and the band of hunters? Had they left him behind? He scrambled down the tree and trudged through the snow with the wind at his back, looking for dark shapes moving among the trees. No voices called his name or answered his desperate cries.
Lost and alone, the boy shivered with hunger, wet, and cold. If he did not find shelter soon, he would freeze to death. He had his bow, arrows, and tomahawk, but nothing to build a fire. Even if he found shelter, how would he stay warm?
Old Grandfather’s words echoed in his head: Be strong, and Owaneeyo, the Great Spirit, will guide you.
He soon came upon a hollow tree with an opening large enough for him to crawl inside. The center of the tree was dry and wide enough for him to stand up and move his arms and legs. But the wind and snow blew fiercely through the opening, chilling him to the bone.
Nunganey crawled out into the snow and looked around. Nearby, a dead tree had fallen to the ground. He chopped off the top of the tree with his tomahawk and propped it up against the opening in the hollow tree, leaving a small entrance to get in and out.
He fashioned a small block of wood out of the trunk of the dead tree and gathered a large pile of small sticks. When he had finished, he crawled inside the hollow tree, drawing the block of wood behind him to close up the entrance. Then he used the small sticks to plug up any remaining holes. He was now snug inside the hollow tree, protected from the wind and snow.
With his tomahawk, Nunganey removed the rotted wood lining the hollow tree and pounded it into small pieces on the ground. He now had a soft bed to lie on.
But it was cold and dark inside the tree. How could he get warm without a fire?
Then he had an idea. He jumped up and down, waving his arms, whooping and hollering, and dancing wildly inside the tree, until beads of sweat trickled into his eyes and he could jump no more.
Using his wet moccasins for a pillow, Nunganey wrapped himself in his damp blanket, curled up in a little ball, and went to sleep.
When Nunganey woke up, he didn’t know if it was day or night. But he was warm and dry, so he lay still for a very long time, listening to the wind, and finally the noise outside began to die down.
Nunganey put on his moccasins and felt around for the block of wood marking the entrance to the tree. It was so dark he couldn’t see. But then his fingers touched the rough contours of the block, and he sighed with relief. He pushed his hands against the block, expecting it to move, but it wouldn’t budge. He was trapped inside the tree!
He beat his fists on the trunk of the tree, tears stinging his eyes. Would he ever see his family again?
Then he remembered Old Grandfather’s words: Be strong . . . Owaneeyo will guide you.
Pushing his back against the trunk of the tree, Nunganey kicked the wooden block with all his strength. This time the block gave way, and a great blanket of snow fell down on the ground. A blast of cold air rushed in, and bright daylight flooded the tree. He was free!
Nunganey crawled out of the tree into the powdery snow. Many of the older trees grew moss on the northwest side of their trunks. He followed the moss-covered trees for many miles until he arrived at the creek which flowed past his village.
Suddenly, a large buck deer crashed through the bushes. Nunganey grabbed his bow and arrow. Aiming carefully, he waited until the rushing animal was almost upon him. Then he released the arrow, holding his breath, and watched the buck fall slowly to the ground. There would be fresh meat for his brothers and sisters!
Old Grandfather would be proud.
Dawn Pisturino
May 1, 2012; December 5, 2021
Copyright 2012-2021 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.
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