Poetry Monday :: Bamboo

Well it was to easy a solution, just repeating an old poem. I had to write about bamboo. Not much, not very intelligent, but here it is.

And while I was at it I wrote about our unusual weather. We're treated to a spell of cold, clear days very windy, but very beautiful. It snowed some days ago, it's almost gone now, but the prognosis for more snow is good. I hold my thumbs!


Bamboo
For sure bamboo is not for me,
I am no panda as you see
I am an owl, so feed me mice,
but made of sugar - that's my vice.


Winter cold
All the snowing that snows
and the cold winds that blows
make us shiver and freeze,
make us huddle and sneeze.

But it's bright and it's gay,
sunlight just like in May.

We go sliding along
- it is fun, can't be wrong -
frozen laundry we fly
stiff against pale blue sky.

Yes its bright and it's fun
snow reflecting the sun.

I hope winter will bring
even more snowy thing,
cause the snow doesn't grow
when the coldest winds blow.

When it's cold I have heard
sublimate is the word.

So I look at the skies
brigth and clear to my eyes
and enjoy what I see,
even more snow for me.

Cause it's bright an it's fun
when we have snow AND sun.

 - - - - - - - - - -

*) Sublimate means to go from solid state to gas without passing through the liquid phase.

Poetry Monday :: Bamboo - More Light & CandlemassDigt, men ikke om bambus, mere lys og Kyndelmisse

Today is Candlemass. I know today's theme is Bamboo, but back in December 2024, I translated this poem by Frank Jæger, and stated that I might reuse this poem at a later date.
Today is this later date. It's crisp, clear and bitterly cold. The temperature is -4 C according to the thermometre, but the wind chill factor makes it more like -15.
And as to Frank Jæger ... yes you've heard of him before on this blog, he was MotherOwl's favourite poet as a young inhabitant of Elsinore, where he lived as well.

He wrote this poem about enduring winter - it is meant for and written about February, where all the accumulated summer-energy (the fires of our heart) is spent, but there's still a long time yet until sunshine and warmer days in April. February 2nd, Candlemass, is known as Midwinter-day in Denmark. Today, according to old farmers' wisdom we're halfway through winter; not that winter will continue for that long, but half of the feed for the livestock should still be in stock today. That's how long still left until the cows and horses can be sent grazing  on the new grass.

Today we have 1¾ hours more of sunligth. Just wonderful. I can feel my energy levels rising, but the cold winds keep us mostly inside. Being outside makes you cold, clumsy and stupid.

Let's have that poem!

 -- 🌬 ❅ ❄  --

I dag er det Kyndelmisse. Jeg ved, at dagens tema er bambus, men tilbage i december 2024 oversatte jeg et digt af Frank Jæger og sagde, at jeg måske ville genbruge det på et senere tidspunkt.
    I dag er det et senere tidspunkt. Det er klart, koldt og bidende koldt. Termometeret siger  -4 °C, men blæsten gør, at det føles mere som -15 °C.
    Og Frank Jæger ... jo, jeg har talt om ham før, han var Uglemors yndlingsdigter, da hun var ung og boede i Helsingør, hvor han også boede.

Han skrev dette digt om at udholde vinteren – det er skrevet til og om februar, hvor al den akkumulerede sommerenergi (vores hjertebål) er brugt op, men der stadig er lang tid til solskin og varmere dage i april.
    Den 2. februar, Kyndelmisse, er kendt som midvinterdag i Danmark. I dag er vi ifølge gammel bondevisdom halvvejs gennem vinteren; ikke at vinteren vil vare så længe, men man skal have halvdelen af vinterfoderet til husdyrene tilbage i dag. Så længe varer det nemlig endnu, før køer og heste kan komme på græs igen.

I dag har vi 1¾ time mere sollys. Det er bare skønt. Jeg kan mærke, at min energi vender tilbage, men den kolde vind holder os mest indenfor. At være udenfor gør én kold, klodset og dum.

Lad os så få det digt!

Liden sol i disse uger. Februar har gjort os mindre. Sne som tynger. Is som knuger. Vi kan ingenting forhindre.	Smallish sun in weeks of winter. February made us lessen. Sleet is weighing. Darkness brooding. Nothing we can do about it
Vi kan heller ikke bede om at måtte blive større. Stær og mus og vinterhvede må på vore vegne spørge.	And we cannot ask for mercy, ask for growth in time of winter. Bird and mouse and seed in hiding have to ask this favour for us.
Men måske april vil hente vore hjertebål tilbage. Sammen vil vi tålsomt vente, liden sol i disse dage.	In April maybe the fires of our hearts will be returning. Patiently we wait together. Smallish sun in days of winter
Frank Jæger, 1953	MotherOwl, December 2024

- - - - - -  - Coming Themes  - - - - - - - -

taken from the 365 Days of Drawing Prompts and other Arts group.

Feb 9 Carousel
Feb 16 Plants with Berries
Feb 23 Doughnut
Mar 2 Breakfast in Bed
Mar 9 Meeting a Friend
Mar 16 Obsidian
Mar 23 Croissant
Mar 30 The Moon Tonight

Sunday Selection : Hunting for the Colour of the MonthSøndagsbilleder : På jagt efter månedens farve

Månedens afarve er virkelig en udfordring for mig. Jeg har kigget alle de billeder igennem, jeg har taget i hele januar, og jeg fandt TO hvor man med lidt god vilje kan finde en smule Electric Rose

Pinkish colours and I are not the best of friends. I searched through sll of my photos for February, and I found TWO that just somewhat fits the bill.

This one from the mass last Sunday, where the headgear of Bishops Fredrik of Oslo (sitting left) and Czeslaw of Copenhagen (standing right) do have almost this shade of reddish pink.

Det her fra messen sidste søndag, hvor kalotterne på biskop Fredrik af Oslo (siddende til venstre) og biskop Czeslaw af København (stående til højre) næsten rammer den rigtige rødligt pinke farve.

Det andet har vi set før - de her frøposer. Bomsterne i biblandingen her har den rette farve - i hvert fald nogen af dem.

The second is a photo I showed you before. The flowers in this beefriendly mix have the right colour - at least some of them.

-- 💗 --

Som en kompensation for kedelighed, dette absolut heldige skud af den sjagger set bagfra.

As a small compensation for boring tries this absolutely lucky shot of a fieldfare seen from behind.

Colour of the Month ~ February ~ Månedens farve

The colour of the Month for February is   ~   Månedens farve for februar er

Words for Wednesday :: January 28

The original Words for Wednesday was begun by Delores and eventually taken over as a moveable feast with many participants supplying the Words.
    When Delores closed her blog forever due to other problems, Elephant's Child (Sue) took over the role of coordinator.
    Now, after Sue's demise it is still to be discerned who will take over this role, River is doing it for the rest of 2025, but maybe Lissa will eventually be our new coordinator.

No matter what, how, where or who the aim of the words is to encourage us to write. A story, a poem, whatever comes to our mind.

This month the words are again supplied byWiseWebWoman and can be found at River's blog.

If you are posting an entry on your own blog, please leave a comment on River's blog, then we can come along and read it and add a few encouraging words.

 It is also a challenge, where the old saying "The more the merrier" holds true.

So Please, remember to follow the links, go back and read other peoples' stories. And please leave a comment after reading. Challenges like this one thrives on interaction, feedback and encouragement. And we ALL need encouragement.

We were given these words:
Long
Monk
Novice
Spiritual
Time
    and/or:
Ants
Boy
Compassion
Stream
Trapped

I use the first set of words for more explanation of this Sunday's mass which left me temporally confounded. For once a real-life story.

It was a solemn mass, with the  the Vatican's Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, as the prime celebrant, to commemorate the 1200th anniversary of Saint Ansgar being sent to Denmark in 826 along with the newly baptised Danish king, Harald Klak. Saint Ansgar went along to keep the king to his new, Christian faith, to possibly build a church, and start converting what was then the wild, heathenish and violent Vikings of the north.
Ansgar was the only one brave enough to step forth, and exchanging the life in an Frankish monastery for the uncertain life of a missionary. He only partially succeeded, he was beaten, robbed, forced to retreat to the south, returning and actually build a church where Christians continued to be present throughout the times. He had a bit better luck in Sweden, but nothing big. 

Sunday morning I took the train to Copenhagen. It's a long journey, longer on Sundays because of fewer trains and buses. Once an hour for me here in the countryside. First I went to a crafting fair, I bought some lovely many coloured pieces of wood, I saw many great ideas, and learned new things. One by one I was joined by three of my sons - craft here includes woodworking, carving knives, and strangely tasting really hot sauces, 3D printing, and other things interesting for young men as well.

Then we took the metro to our cathedral, and waited. We arrived early, and what a luck, for the church was full and overfull before long. It was a great mass. Cardinal Piero Parolin had come all the way from Rome to celebrate with us, more of the Nordic bishops were present. Among those the Bishop of Reykjavik - looking for all the world like a comic strip Franciscan monk - and young Bishop Fredrik of Norway of whom I had written in a periodical, and forgot to bring some for him. Sigh!

The choir sang beautifully, no novices those, and Cardinal Pietro Parolin held a nice, spiritual sermon.

After the mass we all walked to a nearby hotel, where we spent a joyous and cheerful time, listening to speeches, eating tidbits, meeting old friends, talking, and admiring the Bishops' gifts and the anthology written in celebration of Saint Ansgar's life and woks in Denmark.

Here's my less than stellar shot of Cardinal Pietro Parolin preaching:

You can see the official pictures from the mass and the celebration afterwards here.