Snow and sunshine!

Today was a cold, windy, but still very lovely winter day, mainly because the sun was shining! So it was no wonder that I was eager to head out to see what lovely sights awaited me out there. Above is a photo I had taken a few weeks ago, but I thought I should include it here just for contrast, because I love this house and because we drove by it today. This is one of the many great Greek revival homes in the area. I think it is even a landmark building but I have no idea yet what it's historical significance might be. Maybe I will report on this later on.

Then we headed off to nearby Fall Creek where I took this photo of footprints (two and four legged ones) leading down to the creek.

There was nothing much exciting going on over at Fall Creek, so we decided to drive around for a bit. Well, we found this interesting area where the wind has made all these great snow dunes and I decided to take a lot of photos.

Blow, blow, thou winter wind,
Thou art not so unkind
As man's ingratitude;
Thy tooth is not so keen
Because thou art not seen,
Although thy breath be rude.
Heigh-ho! sing heigh-ho! unto the green holly:
Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly:
Then, heigh-ho! the holly!
This life is most jolly.

Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky,
Thou dost not bite so nigh
As benefits forgot:
Though thou the waters warp,
Thy sting is not so sharp
As friend remember'd not.
Heigh-ho! sing heigh-ho! unto the green holly:
Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly:
Then, heigh-ho! the holly!
This life is most jolly.

William Shakespeare, from "As you like it"

Winter Wind

Rolling, sliding comes the long silver serpent,
His breath frost crystals on the air.
He glides between the trees and nips at the feathers
Of twittering birds who huddle there.

He blows a snowstorm through the woods, and
Leaves a sheen upon the lake,
He slips a freeze into the burrows,
And hidden animals shudder and shake.

And as he slithers sinuously onward
Leaving in his path a wake of frost.
The grey forest whispers, “There goes Winter,”
“For Spring would come , but Spring is lost.”

Madeleine Bennett, age 14, Epping, New Hampshire, Phillips Exeter Academy

Oh thou whose face hath felt the Winter's wind

by John Keats (1795 – 1821)

Oh thou whose face hath felt the Winter's wind,
Whose eye has seen the snow-clouds hung in mist,
And the black elm tops, 'mong the freezing stars,
To thee the spring will be a harvest-time.
O thou, whose only book has been the light,
Of supreme darkness which thou feddest on
Night after night when Phoebus was away,
To thee the Spring shall be a triple morn.
O fret not after knowledge - I have none,
And yet my song comes native with the warmth.
O fret not after knowledge - I have none,
And yet the Evening listens. He who saddens
At thought of idleness cannot be idle,
And he's awake who thinks himself asleep.