What’s this!

Each morning I start my day

outside with my laptop

checking to see what has happened

in the world while I slept.

I watch the sun come up

over the mountain.

It’s so peaceful and quiet.

I can gather my thoughts

and listen to the fountain

bubbling away.

Hummingbirds play

in the fountain’s spray

as the sky is painted

in hues of gold, blue and mauve.

But what’s this?

When I came out this morning

it was eerily quiet and oh so cold.

The fountain was silent.

No water glistened in

the dawning rays of the sun.

Instead, pillars of ice were glowing in shades of gold…

painted by the sun’s early rays.

During the night an arctic wind

had blown through the desert.

Its breath silencing the water’s babble

creating icy fingers reaching down

to touch the pool

where humming birds were wont to sip

from the fountains stream.

They encased the fountain’s tiers

like an icy wedding cake

stretching from layer to layer.

Ice cakes don’t come often

to the Valley of the Sun.

I grabbed my camera

to capture the moment

so my family could see this rare event.

For surely once the sun has risen

the icy fingers would disappear

and the hummingbirds would return

to sip from the fountain and

dance around the ears

of the little boy

who watches it

night and day.

Now, in the sun’s early rays,

he looks confused.

His little feet are white with ice

and the pool they normally play in

frozen solid.

Instead there are only pillars of ice

creating a landscape

he can not see

for the magic wrought by nature

is hidden from his view.

Nature is a wondrous thing… especially when it surprises us.

Thanks for stopping by for a little life story.

Stay tuned…

Joan Koerber-Walker

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