Carmel..

The sunflowers around the corner of 116th St and Gray Rd at Carmel are in full bloom. As I drive by them every morning they wake up, smiling and looking at the sun, radiating the freshness of a new day. The vegetable patch behind the sunflowers are ready for harvest. In a few days the sunflowers will start looking down, losing their freshness and life; and as if by cue, the cold mist will start building up, adding a touch of hazy romance to the air. Just after that the wind will start getting colder.

This was a few months ago. Now the trees are all barren. All the leaves have fallen, every leaf that can fall has fallen and has been raked. The fir trees however are waiting, maybe pointing a little upwards, to be drenched in a white sheath.

Carmel, never fails to inspire me to write. This place has brought me closer to nature. Has taught me to appreciate the serenity of the lakes - frozen and still. The trees - in full bloom, barren and radiating colours. The houses, all from a fairy tale, maybe if I open the door, I can see a princess waiting for prince charming. Its beautiful, everything about this place is beautiful.

Just as the trees and place is waiting, I am waiting for those little flurries to touch my face. Where I will seek the warmth of my gloves and coats. The icy wind will drive a shiver through my spine, but the white winter will be a feast for my eyes.

While I write this, the flurries decide to come down and kiss the face of earth. By morning, they would have accumulated to make Carmel more beautiful.

Fallen leaves

The leaves have all fallen
The trees, are they happy or sad
Happy to start anew
Sad that they lost their leaves
And the gruesome winter is going to bite them hard
The leaves have fallen
But the trees stand with open arms
To be drenched when the white rain falls
And when all the flurries are gone
The leaves will take birth
Once again, to sway in the winds.

White trees

Have you seen white trees? I have, I hadn't noticed their beauty in such depth until today.. when I saw them turning white. Brown "leaf-less" trees turning white, so radiant, and so much more beautiful than when they bloom in green hues. When white, each tree looks so different, as if for the first time, you are admiring the trunk and its branches alone. Bare yet brilliant! 

Today I stood out in the open and felt the snow falling on me. Like the rains, I closed my eyes, opened my mouth wide, and faced the sky. The snow flakes kissed my face ever so lightly and drenched me. They glowed like glitter on my brown fur coat. They made me cold, yet the beauty of the world around me, glorified by the flakes. 

When you go to the beach, and look out into the distant water, the horizon is so unclear. You cannot say where exactly the sea ends and the blue sky begins. That is how it is when it snows. The ground is white, the purest form of white, the sky is white. You cannot say where land ends and the sky begins. 

I haven't seen my day so bright without a touch of the sun's rays. I haven't seen my night glow more on a full moon light. The sky reflects the snow from the ground, the ground reflects the brightness of the sky. As pure as an angel, as shining as the twinkle in a baby's eyes.

I told my son 'Did you see the white trees?' He corrected me 'Amma, don't tell anyone that they are white trees, its just snow on the branches' :)

Let it snow.. let it snow... let it snow. 

White sheath.

I drive through the crystal clear roads,
Every inch beside the road is white
Nature has placed its white blanket on its every making
The roof of the church is blessed in white
Like a divine touch from the heavens above
The little branches of the barren trees
Giving shelter to the showers from above
A heap of the flurries outside my doorstep
I place my feet and they go deep inside
The lake which played with waves yesterday
Are a frozen sheath of water today
So soft and still, yet so scary
The postcard of nature fills the eye
Its white sheath whispers its awe.

The elements

She goes down in distant skies, giving the sky a color of gold
The water beneath the sun glows in her glory
Reflecting the colours she so vibrantly displays
Water captures her every hue and feeling
Like a mirror oh! so perfect.
The water so serene, seems still like the earth
Yet its moving inside her, leaving ripples on her way
She cools the wind that blows on my face
Giving me a chill down my spine
The air blows so gently, taking away my heat with her
Still she never fails to make me cold.
The ball of fire burns, but I dont feel the heat,
The Earth is taking shelter and retiring for the day
The elements captured in my senses
Gives me the joy of an evening well spent.

The mystery that is ..

The strength of her droplets hits me on my back. I turn around to face her, her force makes it impossible. My eyes refuse to open, scared that she will take them away with her. I hold on to familar hands, so tight, she tries to gush through us. Many faces all covered in yellow plastic sheets, I don't recognize many of them. If I kept my glasses on, she will blind my sight, if I take them off, I cannot catch a good glimpse of her majesty. She flows by... a thousand drops of water, falling down into the deepest seas, every instant, yet she flows every instant.
Few minutes ago, I was deep there, inside her arms, she engulfed me with her prowess, her arms stretched out. I looked up to see from where she was coming, the mist blinds me this time, hiding her face. I look down, the waves forming one instant and disappearing the next. Tiny whirlpools, telling their own story. They too disappear in the blink of an eye.
She awakens a thought in me, to go with her. To hold her hand and walk with her to silence. There are noises everywhere, of people each one echoing WOW at her beauty. But she silences them all with her drum roll. Amidst this noise, she invites me to make a journey with her, where she will show me the end of the tunnel. However inviting she is, the land holds me back. Her chains around me are locked with the heaviest metal. The key thrown away or probably traveled with her majesty to the deepest seas. Someday in the future I will make the journey, with her, held in her arms to silence. But today, I must go on.. Alas! I walk back, to land, to life..