It's the last day of winter. For me it really can't come soon enough. While friends in the mountains a hundred miles north are cleaning up from yesterday's storms - at least one tornado - they await another round of nasty weather tonight. Meanwhile, friends on the East Coast look forward to their fourth hurricane-like coastal storm in four weeks. That's quite a contrast to mild temperatures covering much of nation a month or so ago.
Variances come with all the seasons but for those who prefer warmer climes the thought of sub-freezing temperatures, howling winds and depths of drifting snow measured in feet is enough to awaken the chills and shivers. Sometimes it may be necessary to awaken those chills and shivers. In fact there's a 325 year-old song - a much older legend as well - where Cupid rouses Cold Genius, the spirit of Winter, to assist King Arthur in a search for his fiance, Princess Emmeline. It is a surprisingly modern sounding piece of work from the semi-opera, King Arthur, by Henry Purcell and librettist, John Dryden . Regardless, let's hope our modern personification of Cold Genius finds his rest soon so spring can take over the landscape and end our fever for a season of renewal.
What power art thou, who from below,
Hast made me rise unwillingly and slow,
From beds of everlasting snow?
See'st thou not how stiff and wondrous old,
Far, far unfit to bear the bitter cold,
I can scarcely move or draw my breath;
Let me, let me freeze again to death.
Sources
Photos and Illustrations:
snowflake, its.caltech.edu/~atomic/snowcrystals/alike/alike.htm
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