Bird's nest

I Heard a Bird Sing

I heard a bird sing
in the dark of December
a magical thing
and sweet to remember.

'We are nearer to spring
than we were in September.'
I heard a bird sing
in the dark of December.
         Oliver Herford

Christmas memories

I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.

Charles Dickens

Christmas Day

"Christmas is the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart."

Washington Irving

Warm Christmas cookies

"Christmas cookies and happy hearts, this is how the holiday starts."

Anon.

Ornament

It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air.

                W. T. Ellis

Dog in snow

This is the most cooperative dog I've ever seen.  As I came near with my camera he began rolling around in the new snow.  His pure joy was contagious.

"With an eye made quiet by the power of harmony, and the deep power of joy, we see into the life of things."

William Wordsworth

Christmas lights

It is a fine seasoning for joy to think of those we love.

Moliere

Christmas Candle

A Christmas candle is a lovely thing;
It makes no noise at all but softly gives itself away;
While quite unselfish, it grows small.

Eva K. Logue

Church bells

There has been so much bad news recently - Such a sad time for many people.  I find I'm often remembering the words of an old Christmas Carol, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.  The poem was originally composed by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow during the American Civil war and had the title Christmas Bells.  Sadly, it is as appropriate today as it was then.  The two middle verses come to mind:

And in despair I bowed my head:

"There is no peace on earth", I said

"For hate is strong, and mocks the song

Of peace on earth good will to men."

Then peeled the bells more loud and deep:

"God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;

The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,

With peace on earth, good will to men."

The beautiful sound of church bells ringing through a European morning has to be experienced to be believed.

Winter trees

Thus having prepared their buds
against a sure winter
the wise trees
stand sleeping in the cold.

William Carlos Williams

Ornaments

"Happy happy Christmas, that can win us back the delusions of childhood days, recall to the old man the pleasure of his youth, and transport the traveler back to his own fireside and quiet home!"

Charles Dickens

Silverware

The cold weather has forced me inside.  I played around with my macro lens and some old silverware.

Make new friends, but keep the old;

Those are silver, these are gold.

                         Joseph Parry

Poinsettia

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.

Norman Vincent Peale

Winter abstract

I check several photography blogs for inspiration.  I came across a photography challenge, "winter abstract".  I took this photo looking up into a bare crabapple tree, and with a little editing, came up with this image.

O'er the bare upland, and away
Through the long reach of desert woods,
The embracing sunbeams chastely play,
And gladden these deep solitudes.

From Woods in Winter 

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Sunrise

The pictures are there and you just take them.

Robert Capa

Winter sunrise

Freezing fingers are worth capturing an image on a frosty morning.  Today's sunrise seemed misty and ethereal even though it was fairly clear.  I tried a "soft focus" mode on the camera and it captured the mood better than a clear shot.

At sunrise everything is luminous but not clear.

Norman Maclean

December

In the bleak midwinter
Frosty wind made moan.
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone.
        Christmas Carol