February was an eventful month weather-wise for North Carolina. We had several bouts of snow and ice. Although those events were considered minor to folks from northerly parts of the country, it was enough to cause quite a stir—and brings things to a screeching halt—here in the south.

Perhaps I’m getting more cautious in my old age—and shaming my more northerly roots; but after seeing a Mini Cooper sliding straight at me on the ice recently, I opted to venture as few places as possible. I wasn’t a total bear in hibernation, though. I took some photos here and there—mostly around my house (such as the cardinal snow scene above) and in the Duke Gardens:

The century-old Roney Fountain in the Rose Garden

The Gothic pavilion in the Page-Rollins White Garden

Iris Bridge

Yellow finches and yellow-rumped warblers in the Blomquist Garden of Native Plants

The Dawn Redwood, (planted as a seedling in 1949), in the Historic Gardens

A paperbush in the Memorial Garden

Culberson Asiatic Arboretum

Japanese apricot blossoms by the Arched Bridge in the Asiatic Arboretum

One of my favorite poets, Emily Dickinson, wrote many timeless works about everyday life and nature, including one about snow that is brilliantly reflective of the charming elements of winter:

THE SNOW
by Emily Dickinson

It sifts from leaden sieves,
It powders all the wood,
It fills with alabaster wool
The wrinkles of the road.

It makes an even face
Of mountain and of plain, —
Unbroken forehead from the east
Unto the east again.

It reaches to the fence,
It wraps it, rail by rail,
Till it is lost in fleeces;
It flings a crystal veil

On stump and stack and stem, —
The summer’s empty room,
Acres of seams where harvests were,
Recordless, but for them.

It ruffles wrists of posts,
As ankles of a queen, —
Then stills its artisans like ghosts,
Denying they have been.