follow your dreams

farron's snowflake

Farron looked out her window at the snow-covered world. Her eyes followed a large
snowflake as it swayed and circled

down

down

down

and disappeared into the icing sugar lawn.

"Where do snowflakes come from?" she asked her mother.

"Well,” Mommy began, "they come from the clouds. The clouds gather moisture and . . . "

Farron wondered what was on top of the cloud. Mommy's voice went on "... and when it gets
cold rain turns to snow..."

Maybe someone lives up there, Farron thought. She closed her eyes and snuggled deeper into her pillow as Mommy's voice faded.

Farron opened her eyes and sat up. Where was she? Everything was white. In front of her, beside her, above her. Everywhere. A face peeked out from behind a white tree: "Hello Farron. My name is Serena. I hear you want to learn how we make snowflakes."

Farron nodded her head -- yes.

"Well, come on!" Serena led the way through the cloud. Faces appeared in the mist.

"Hello everyone. I’ve brought Farron to see how we make snow."

Out from the clouds popped workers covered in snowflakes. They had snowflakes on their
clothes, snowflakes on their heads, and even their boots were covered in snowflakes.

“Farron,” said Serena, “everyone is busy today making snow, but you can watch them work
and ask questions."

Farron went to every part of the snow cloud. She watched as raindrops burst into snowflakes. Each one was different. There were double-diamonds and pointed stars, small clusters and large lacy snowflakes. Buckets of snowflakes were stacked at the edge of the cloud ready to be tipped and scattered. Farron watched the buckets tip and snowflakes fall over the side of the cloud.

Farron peeked over the edge. "Mommy, I'm up here," she called out.

"I don't think she can hear you," Serena said to Farron, "but you could send a note to tell her
where you are."

Farron reached into a bucket and picked a snowflake. She wrote her name on a piece of paper and tied it to the snowflake with gold thread. She threw it over the edge andwatched as it fluttered and swirled

down

down

down

to the ground.

Feeling tired, Farron sat down and rested against the white cloud bank. It reminded her of her big white pillow at home. Her eyes closed. She felt like she was floating

down

down

down

just like a snowflake.

Her eyes opened. She sat up. There was Mommy, right beside her. "Where's Serena?" she asked.

"Who's Serena?" asked Mommy.

“From up on the cloud. That's where they make the snow. Serena took me there. I saw it.” Farron jumped off the couch and peered out the window.

"Mommy, where's the snowflake I sent you?"

"Snowflake?" Mommy asked.

"The one with the note," Farron frowned. "Oh, it must still be outside,” she jumped up. "Let's go get it."

"Farron, you must have had a dream when you fell asleep. A snowflake can't have a note on it!"

"Yes there is! I wrote it. I saw how they make snow!"

Farron pulled on her boots as her mother got their coats. They went out onto the front lawn. They looked all over.

"Where is it?" worried Farron.

"Well, Farron, I really don't think we're going to find a note."

"No, no, it IS here. I wrote it. I threw it down."

Mommy started walking towards the house. Farron plunked down in the snow. She rolled on her back and looked up. On the sagging branch of a cedar tree weighted with snow, a sparkle caught her eye.

"Mommy, come here." She reached her hand out towards the glint. It sparkled again.

Farron pointed, "Mommy -- LOOK!"

It was tiny and hard to see, but there
... tied with a glint of gold thread to a snowflake was a note:






...............................................................................................................................© Colleen MacDonald 2006

seabus seagull nest

Now that's prime real estate -- right beside the Seabus at Lonsdale Quay

crows' nest

Have you ever wondered how crows build their nest?

They even do it to music, electronic funk, no less!

and here's some words about these busy crows:

a pair of crows
built a nest
this week
they flew past my window
sticks and branches
in their beaks
over the rooftop
and into a cluster of trees
next to the house
I followed their path --
trained a telescope on the spot
and watched as the nest was formed
nestled in the boughs of a tall cedar.

I found my digiscope
and attached it to the telescope
fitted on the camera
and started filming.

day by day
the nest grew
the crows added more sticks
bits of moss
a piece of paper
and a plastic bag was tucked between the layers of sticks

and then one day the building stopped
and the sitting began
excited,
I waited anxiously
for the eggs
to hatch

and then one day I was out in the garden
and heard the deep krawk of raven
circling nearby
and heard the frantic cries of the crows chasing
it off
not our nest
I hoped
looking high into our tree
as raven swooped in
and the crows screamed
and then just as quickly
the raven flew off
and through the telescope
I watched as the crows tossed out bits
of shells
I hoped there was at least one egg left
but the crows flew off and never came back to the nest again

dog talk