the day breaks through the cold, dark night
into a morning of fiery skies and floating ice—
this, more than anything else,
breaks my heart into tiny, little pieces
that i collect with my clumsy mittened hands
and shove into deep pockets
daybreak
spanishwoods 
What a beautiful view to wake up to! these boats aren’t still in the water are they?
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That was the sunrise yesterday morning before the snow came.
The boats that are lined up here are the permanent house boats. People live in those all year round. For Christmas they’re all decorated with little lights. In the spring, when the docks get built up again, these boats are interspersed with the rest.
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Wow! Cool! Don’t they get frozen in?
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They don’t travel in the winter. It’s appealing to me on many levels, but when there’s a windy day, they rock (and the little ones rock a lot), until the wind dies down. I often think that would make me very sick. Gentle swaying here and there seems comforting, rocking for hours…not so much.
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ahwwww so beautiful! love the colours ❤
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After this sunrise, it snowed and the entire scene was completely white.
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ahwww ❤ thanks for sharing the beautiful moment with us!
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Such an evocative poem and photo! Perfect! Please do show us a photo of the snow that followed.
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Thank you Michael! I’ve edited my original post to include a photo of what this scene looked like 9 hours later. 🙂
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Very very beautiful.
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Thank you Nico.
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I suppose the boats are ‘bubbled’ to keep the hulls from being damaged. A better mortgage payment than a house…
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There are two boats that have plastic covers completely surrounding them (with some cut-outs for windows and doors). I think it may be to keep the heat in, but I’m not certain.
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That’s bubble wrapping the top, great way to keep snow off.
Bubbling the hull is using hoses with holes in them and air pumped into them allowing the air out to disturb the water so it can’t freeze to the hull. I’ve seen this done in Detroit in the yacht clubs.
An alternative to placing the boat in dry dock for winter.
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Oh I see John. Clearly I know nothing about boats. I could know more because one of the boats that is docked directly across from my balcony (not shown) is completely covered and I could ask that man to tell me about it but I once tried to save his little dog who’s leash was stuck on the dock (and was close to falling in the river) and he yelled at me for interfering. So…………I’ll just learn from you instead.
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How rude of him! Good Lord. I grew up boating from a very young age and also raced drag boats with my dad in the 70’s. Cherished years of childhood on the lake in Michigan. Ask me, I likely can answer you correctly! ❤️😀
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Oh goodness . . .what difficult experience
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Yes, he is a very dislikable man. I was very proud of myself for not going off on him with my quick temper. But age and/or medicine has made me docile. Anyway, thank you for the information!
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Temper, ugh. I have learned to control mine well these days. My med sure helps too 😉
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I love your poem, and the orange sunrise – but it looks really really cold! 🙂
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Yes. Very, very cold indeed!
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Don’t worry S. Nature is preserving that beautiful sunrise in ice for later days! 🙂
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Exactly so. 🙂
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Evocative…the monochrome effect suggests the second shot was taken years ago…
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Thank you. I’m always surprised by how different this scene looks on different days. It’s amazing.
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I really like this poem. I like the inclusion of both fire and ice . . . and the emotional poignancy I feel when I read it. What body of water is that?
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Thank you Jan. This is the Allegheny River.
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What a contrast a few hours makes. Esp. love the last few lines. 🙂
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Thank you Eliza.
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What a great contrast!
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Coincidentally, I had taken both these shots on the same day. The sunrise was beautiful and later the snow was thick and lovely as well.
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Nice.
It adds another layer to the relationship between the two.
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