Winter Solitude

Winter solitude--
in a world of one color
the sound of wind.

Matsuo Basho

The Frozen Sun -Winter in Romania

The shelter has given dawn to the light

Wind walker has taken the after sight

Aloof in the snow on a cloudy day

Lost in the woods and there's nothing left to say

A spirit is seen in the the frozen sun

Human condition has become undone

KALAS - The frozen SUN

winter forever, winter feelings, Loneliness - Winter Again,

Snowflake Template - Winter again,

Winter in Romania, freezing rain, 

winter in Romania

Winter in Romania -White Thoughts

Black snow was falling. The tree line  shone when I turned to see - 

Then, a thick silence descends,  and my every gesture  leaves a comet tail in the heavens.  

And I hear evey glance I cast  as it echoes against  some tree.   

How transparent your hands are in winter! 

My nostrils tremble  and no scent  and no breeze 

...only the distant, icy smell  of the suns.   

And no one passes - 

 He offered me a branch like an arm.

I passed through him. He passed through me. I remained a solitary tree.   

I could hear his sap quicken, beating  like blood. He could hear my blood slacken like rising sap. 

The field stretched on its back, near the horizon, 

Full of ice

and the trees stopped running from the winter wind ... 

Stuck in ice...

and the thought spreads in circles 

ringing the trees...

....and the Sea.

...Then we met more often. 
I stood at one side of the hour,
you at the other,
like two handles of an amphora. 
Only the words flew between us,
back and forth. 
You could almost see their swirling,
and suddenly,
I would lower a knee,
and touch my elbow to the ground
to look at the grass, bent
by the falling of some word,
as though by the paw of a lion in flight. 
The words spun between us,
back and forth,
and the more I missed you, the more
they continued, this whirl almost seen,
the structure of matter, the beginnings of things. 

N. Stanescu /From the book "Bas-Relief with Heroes"

english translation by Thomas Carlson and Vasile Poenaru. 

Freezing rain is the name given to rain that falls when surface temperatures are below freezing. The raindrops become supercooled while passing through a sub-freezing layer of air, many hundred feet (or meters), just above the surface, and then freeze upon impact with any object they encounter.(wiki)
freezing rain (ploaieîngheţată) este destul de rar, însă nu total neobişnuit pentru România.
Fenomenul se formează din cauză că în straturile înalte ale atmosferei temperaturile cresc, iar la nivelul solului, unde sunt temperaturi sub zero grade, ploaia se transformă imediat în gheaţă. Astfel, în urma freezing rain, se formează o crustă subţire de gheaţă.

Merry Christmas! Craciun Fericit!

drawing/canvas / pencils/ 24 Decembrie 2011 
reproduction after “The Nativity” by French painter Noel Coypel 

Happy Christmas to everyone! Hope you all get what you wished for!

Craciun fericit tuturor!

Romanian Winter Traditions / Traditii Romanesti

During winter solstice, when the sun is weak and frost and dryness take over, Romanian peasants conceived ceremonies to help the Sun and Nature to overcome this "temporary crisis." 

Romania is a country with a long and complicated history. 

It also has a variety of customs, traditions and holidays.
Within South Eastern Europe however, Romania preserved a significant number of traditional customs and celebrations manifest within the strong community of the village.

Peasants possessed a deep knowledge of the way to tend the earth. They had the ability to enjoy life and to dream into the future. They were regular observers of the feasts for the earth, their cattle, the flowers and crops, and the overall beauty of living.
The Romanian customs can be divided into family customs, calendar-based customs and religious customs. They represent a "triptych" marked by the three major life changes: birth, marriage and death.

 December 10, 2011 - Village Museum - Bucharest

Village Museum-Bucharest