Goodbye Winter

[poliphilo]

A pinch and a punch on the first of the month.

I know what Eliot says about April being the cruelest month, but I've never understood it; I'd be glad for it to be April now and the lilacs growing out of the dead land.

Does he mean that April fails to live up to its promise?

I guess one can't accuse February of that. February makes no promises. It is the coldest, bleakest, muddiest, dankest month. Thank God, it is also the shortest.

And now it's March. And here comes Flora, with one hand on her hat, pushing her way against a strong, cold wind, with daffodils clasped in the crook of her arm.

Comments

[sorenr.livejournal.com]

An old, Danish song say that

April cannot be trusted;
Each day she wears a new dress...

-Somewhat prettier and, it seems, slightly fairer on poor April.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I like that. I like that a lot!

[sorenr.livejournal.com]

Of course it does actually rhyme in Danish:

April er ikke til at stole på;
Hver dag hun tager en ny kjole på...

Very pretty tune as well!

[geodesus-christ.livejournal.com]

Pshh, you wrote weeks ago about how the crocuses were out where you are. We don't get those for at least another month!!! :(

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

That's true.

But since then we've had snow and snow and yet more snow...

And my arthritis is playing up.

[jenny_evergreen]

I love that last image. :) Around here, we've been shaking our heads at the overeager daffodils and crocuses for a week, 'cause we knew it wasn't over yet. As I write, it is once again white outside my window. *sigh*

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

We had a bit of snow this morning, enough to get me excited about it and look for my gloves.

Now the sun's out.

[jenny_evergreen]

I would probably like snow, too, if I had a dearth of it...

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

It's a teasing time of year.

But I always feel better for having got February out of the way.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

"...daffodils
That come before the swallow dares and take
The winds of March with beauty."

Sorry, I had to get that in somewhere......

[jenny_evergreen]

I understand. *grin*

[idahoswede.livejournal.com]

Dreadfully sorry to inform you that since it was -12 at 7 a.m. this morning and Flora ventured out on this 1st of March improperly clad, she was found frozen to death with a bunch of limp daffs. Funeral will take place later this week, once the ground can be blasted to an appropriate depth.

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

Uproarious.

Stay warm!

Flora should have known better.

[idahoswede.livejournal.com]

Rushing the season, some people are always rushing the season.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

LOL

Oh dear, but things aren't so bad here. There was warmth in the sun this morning, though it's clouding over again now.

[jenny_evergreen]

*falls over laughing* That was too hilarious!

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

March 1, and here we had snow flurries that stopped before making anything pretty.

Now it's just cold, and the sun's out.

Bah.

(I like your image of Flora very much. Poor thing, she will always be cold, but she tries her best to bring spring.)

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

There's a lovely picture by Rembrandt of his wife Saskia as Flora. I was looking to see if I had a postcard of it I could scan- but I don't.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Is that it?

Poor old Thomas Stearns!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I find it hard to imagine Eliot allowing younger persons to call him anything but Mr Eliot, but I could be wrong.

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

Had Flora been around here this morning she would have gotten lost in the snow - or run over by a plow. I keep saying to myself that the more snow we get, the higher the level of our well will be at the cottage this summer. Sometimes that even works.

March. Turn over a leaf on the calendar. On one calendar is picture of four very young Beatles - three of them gathered around one microphone and Ringo off to one side with his drum kit. On another calendar are three beautiful kitties looking back - the one in the middle looking a great deal like Leona Elizabeth when I got her. (There isn't a kitten in this world that I could resist.)

February is the longest shortest month of the year...I too am glad to turn the page and note that even though it was snowing VERY hard this morning, the sky grew lighter earlier.

John Hartford said "August is a wicked month, a pleasure yet so sad..."

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Four very young Beatles- that's nice.

We have a Harry Potter calendar and the picture for March is....erm, Harry looking worried and Hagrid carrying what looks like a dead body and some mythical beastie with the body of a horse and the head and wings of an eagle; I haven't seen the movie so I don't know what the hell it all means....

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

Even if you HAVE seen the movie, it means whatever you want it to mean.

I'm waiting impatiently for the 'newest' book.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

A good point.

I've never caught the Potter bug, but I did enjoy the first of the movies.

[strange-complex.livejournal.com]

Ooh, calendars! I hadn't thought yet. This means I get a new guinea-pig: white this month, instead of brown for February. He has some butter-cups.

I will have to wait to see what new view of Oxford awaits me when I get home.

P.S. As I write this, it has just start hailing in Belfast.

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

I had a friend one time, who lived in Athlone. When we'd talk (EARLY in the morning here) I'd complain about the snow.

And he'd always say "You Americans. You all come from fine pioneer stock..."

No, no. Some of us are decended from aristocrats....and we don't like the cold....

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

I wonder: didn't you say you hadn't seen "Hope and Glory"--a 1987 English film starring Sarah Miles, David Hayman, Derrick O'Connor, Susan Wooldridge, Sebastian Rice-Edwards, and directed by John Boorman?

I'm watching it again this morning, and it's so witty and moving--about London during WW II.

I think you and Ailz would really like it.

I don't know if it's available on DVD--I hope so.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

No, I haven't seen Hope and Glory. It's a film that's kept eluding me. I must see if we can hire a copy from Tesco.

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

I must see if we can hire a copy from Tesco.

Why is this so much more charming than saying "I'll go to the local Blockbuster and see if I can rent it." ?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I dunno.

Tesco is just a big supermarket chain- nothing in the least bit glamorous, really.

[ibid.livejournal.com]

If March comes in like a lion it goes out like a lamb - we are just getting the bad weather over and done with early!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

That's a happy thought.