MADDOGS

SUNDAY--Another great day today. It was windy and cold this morning (if the high 40s can be considered cold).

The Crew did two geocachings, one along Babel Slough by the Sacramento River and another by the levee at Garcia Bend. Jude thinks this is a really fun game.

Jude's mom--aka the Bad Mother--phoned to say that she shoveled six inches of snow off the walks today. The temperature in Logan, Utah will dip to 7 degrees tonight and the high tomorrow will be 17 degrees. Now these kind of temperatures really put COLD into perspective, don't they?

Jude loves the snow. This is a poem she wrote.

missing snow
****************

Awaiting sunset
one evening,
I walk the path
beyond Garcia Bend.

Hiding my eyes
behind the light,
I shut out this world
and entice another in.

Drawing my coat around me,
I summon the thunder of
silver-footed steeds
to lead the way.

Frigid walls of winter,
that once existed elsewhere,
slip through
cracks of time.

Twilight is clear
and still--
without blurring,
I catch the glimpse I seek.

Weed-fringed ditches
clothed about with frosty white,
run the line
from here to there.

I trudge across snowy fields
welcoming the bite
of cold--and
bitter loss.

Tears crowd my vision,
clarifying the unworldly realm.
Snow falls so thick
even the mountains vanish.

A dark and final
emotion pulls out
an overwhelming sense of grief.
And I am very much alone.

In the end,
memory fails me, and
I make the fatal mistake
of opening my eyes.

Sunset, most overdue,
licks the Sacramento River
with its harsh red tongue.
It is time to go.