January 21, 2013

 
I remember my mother's White Christmas album, with Bing Crosby crooning his gal to stay a little longer, because baby, it was COLD outside.  And boy howdy, did he call it.  A friend of mine from South Dakota let me know that yesterday afternoon it was -45 degrees with the wind chill.  That prairie wind that never stops blowing is making its way across the Midwest, and this morning we are under a wind chill advisory.  My weather channel just let me know that it is (and I quote) VERY COLD outside.  I think I would have figured that one out on my own, but thanks for the heads up, weather.com.  At the top of the article it reads "Bitterly Cold Air Invades Lower 48."  Invades?  An army of frosty winds blowing through my state--that's a rather daunting thought for an early Monday morning!  I think I'll head to the kitchen for a steaming cup of tea and some raisin cinnamon toast. 

When winter winds are piercing chill...a perfect poem for today!  I hope all of us can stay warm and inside--if you have to go out, bundle up!  I think Henry was a bit more optimistic about the wind than I am--it may indeed be wild music, but it doesn't go far in cheering me up!
Woods in Winter  
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
When winter winds are piercing chill,
And through the hawthorn blows the gale,
With solemn feet I tread the hill,
That overbrows the lonely vale.

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

Where, twisted round the barren oak,
The summer vine in beauty clung,
And summer winds the stillness broke,
The crystal icicle is hung.

Where, from their frozen urns, mute springs
Pour out the river's gradual tide,
Shrilly the skater's iron rings,
And voices fill the woodland side.

Alas! how changed from the fair scene,
When birds sang out their mellow lay,
And winds were soft, and woods were green,
And the song ceased not with the day!

But still wild music is abroad,
Pale, desert woods! within your crowd;
And gathering winds, in hoarse accord,
Amid the vocal reeds pipe loud.

Chill airs and wintry winds! my ear
Has grown familiar with your song;
I hear it in the opening year,
I listen, and it cheers me long.

1 comment:

  1. Tea and toast sound perfect for a chilly day. We haven't had any full blown blizzards this year (so far), just a couple of wee snows. I have missed the sound of howling winds.

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