After a clearing yesterday afternoon, it’s snowing again.
I noticed just before I went to bed last night that the forecast had suddenly changed once more, promising more snow overnight instead of hewing to its original prediction for this afternoon. I awakened at six to find a dusting was already on the ground, with more falling. It’s a fine, dry snow today, tiny flakes that take time to accumulate, but now the sky is as white as the ground, with no sign of it letting up anytime soon.
Here at Red Willow, at least, such weather is the greatest of gifts now.
It’s also a far cry from the weather of four short days ago, when Wings captured the image above on his cell phone.
Oh, it was cold, to be sure, and there were still a few patchy remnants of ice to be found here and there in the shadowed areas. But despite the early arrival of the spring winds, the afternoon temperatures were still rising far above what we should normally expect for the middle of February. The aspens now are bones white as clouds arrayed against a cornflower sky, but their buds birthed themselves last November and the catkins have been open for nearly three full months already. Miraculously, they so far seemed to have survived the intermittent onslaughts of freezing weather, and the birds find rest and refuge in their otherwise still-bare branches.
It’s always been one of Wings’s favorite perspectives for photography: standing beneath the trees, looking upward along the line of their tall, strong trunks to see the web-work of branches against the sky. It’s a gorgeous vantage point at any season here, but in winter, it takes on a hauntingly stark beauty that other seasons cannot match. And the braided branches, the warp and weft of their weaving with the sky, remind us that despite the cold, this is a place and space and season of sanctuary, safe in the sheltering embrace of winter.
Outside the window at this moment, it’s a refuge of another sort that’s visible: the one the wild creatures find here with us now. We have had the elk, and they feel safe enough to come up near the house so the young bucks and bucks can scrape their antlers, velvet already itchy with the urge to shed, against these same aspens. The entire clan of young red-winged and other blackbirds has been wintering with us, as have the piñon jays and scrub jays a few goldfinches, and similarly early chokecherry birds, known to the outside world as grosbeaks. They, too, find refuge in the branches, a place to rest while feeding, or just to enjoy the snow.
Today’s featured work in silver embodies this feeling of shelter and safety, this sense of sanctuary from more powerful and dangerous forces. From its description in the relevant section of the Bracelets Gallery here on the site:
Refuge Cuff Bracelet
The space between Spirit’s eyes is a place of refuge, a sanctuary filled with life in full abundant flower that extends to all directions. With this simple, spare traditional cuff, Wings combines the symbologies of sacred space and Spirit with the imagery of the directions, of illuminating guidance and the forces of abundance. Cut freehand of heavy-gauge sterling silver, the slender band is chased with traditional imagery on all four sides: top, bottom, and either edge, all stamped deeply, consistently, and similarly freehand. At the center sits a deeply stamped ancient motif used variously to represent the force of the thunderhead, the powers of the winds and the sacred directions, and the traditional stair-stepped lines that evoke a specific kind of sacred space. It’s flanked by paired sunrise symbols, the rays emergent from a bank of clouds to create triangles that, when conjoined at their open bases, together produce Eyes of Spirit, symbols of wisdom, illumination, and guidance. The pattern alternates down each side of the band, ending in paired directional spaces and anchored at each end by a single deep flower; more flowering motifs edge the narrow sides of the band. The inner band is lined at either edge in a repeating pattern of subtler motifs of illumination, the silvery light of crescent moons. Cuff is 6″ long by 3/8″ across (dimensions approximate). Other views shown below.
Sterling silver
$1,050 + shipping, handling, and insurance
It’s a reminder that refuge comes in many forms, many of them counterintuitive to our expectations. In a place like this, blue skies may be less welcoming than the snow, particularly when they herald the arrival of a deep and bitter cold, or just as deep and bitter a drought.
the image at the top of this post is beautiful, but it also sets my spirit slightly on edge, because I know too well what it represents. B contrast, the second image, taken in January of last year and shown immediately below, is far more consonant with what we need from this season, and soothes my spirit instead.
It is, I believe, the exact same tree as the one above, shown from a different side and shot at a slightly different angle. It makes the trunk look broader, fuller, brings the eyes and crevices closer, adds depth and texture and many shades of color to the skeletal white bark.
And like the crevice of the tree itself, the image also catches the snow, fallen from a still-white sky. There is a softness to it, a gentleness, a sense of comfort and a comforting sensibility not present in the brighter image above.
In this season and weather, bitter cold and heavy snow and the knowledge that harsh winds are just around the corner? This image feels to me like a refuge, a place of stillness and safety.
With spring no longer far away, and with the knowledge that the cold will remain for months yet, finding comfort in the spirit of this season is essential — secure in the knowledge that we remain, still, in the sheltering embrace of winter.
~ Aji
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2021; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.
