(10 am. – promoted by ek hornbeck)
Last year there was a fierce Winter. Huge, frequent snowfalls. Extraordinary, aching, persistent cold. And this year, as if finding mercy, Winter has so far been quite mild. A deep snow at the end of October melted quickly. There has been no extended, sub zero cold. And there has been little snow. Yesterday’s foul weather warning was unjustified: the feared storm turned into copious rain. Streams and ponds and lakes are not fully frozen. In short, mud season has arrived early and it may persist.
Mud season turns the world monochromatic. The sun is weak. The sky is overcast and gray. There is no snow cover. Fields and forests and dirt roads are all brown. And so we wait. We make it a practice not to complain. Not to jinx whatever clemency we’ve received. We wonder. Is the future a plunge into growling arctic blizzards, or is it a slow but muddy slog toward the Equinox?
Robert Frost:
Looking For a Sunset Bird in Winter
The west was getting out of gold,
The breath of air had died of cold,
When shoeing home across the white,
I thought I saw a bird alight.In summer when I passed the place
I had to stop and lift my face;
A bird with an angelic gift
Was singing in it sweet and swift.No bird was singing in it now.
A single leaf was on a bough,
And that was all there was to see
In going twice around the tree.From my advantage on a hill
I judged that such a crystal chill
Was only adding frost to snow
As gilt to gold that wouldn’t show.A brush had left a crooked stroke
Of what was either cloud or smoke
From north to south across the blue;
A piercing little star was through.
This Week In The Dream Antilles is usually a weekly digest. Usually, it appears on Friday. Sometimes, like now and for several of the past weeks, it isn’t actually a digest of essays posted at The Dream Antilles. For the essays you have to visit The Dream Antilles
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This digest seems to complete a year of virtually weekly postings of This Week InThe Dream Antilles. I can continue, or not as you wish. Let me know, ok?
with only a few days of cold and only a couple of inches of snow, January feels like March. After my walk on the beach this morning, I was looking at the flower beds around the house. The crocuses, tulips and hyacinths are starting to push through the mulch and the pussy willow in the backyard in the far corner has little buds, all way too early. Last year the yard was frozen ad snow covered. I remember winters in the 50’s and 60’s and it was always cold with snow and ice. The mud season was always in March & April.