The North wind doth blow . . .
. . . except that it dothn’t. True, the wind was ‘from the North’ at one mile per hour or something ridiculous. That was fine by me. It was quite cold enough without it being shunted along at speed, and I was indoors, for goodness’ sake. The house isn’t hermetically sealed but most of the draughts have been denied access.
. . . and we shall have snow
Well, yes, we have had snow, not enough to write home about, but snow nonetheless. It came down in big, soft flakes, quite impressively, for a while. I noticed from my Reolink camera that it was settling abjectly and rather sulkily on the cars on the drive, as though it would rather be somewhere else.
. . . and what will
the robin do then, poor thing?
He’ll sit in a barn
To keep himself warm . . .
. . . well, he would, if he could find one that hasn’t been snapped up and converted at vast expense to make a desirable property for a human, but if he manages to find a vacant barn being used for its original purpose . . .
To keep himself warm
And hide his head under his
wing, poor thing.
There are
four more verses to this rhyme. The second one asks,
And what will the swallow do then, poor thing?
Oh, do you not know
That he’s off long ago,
To a country where he will find spring, poor thing.
The third and fourth verses speak of the dormouse and honey bee, both of which hibernate until the spring, and the final verse refers to children.
When lessons are done
They will skip, jump and run,
Until they have made themselves warm, poor things.
Much is made of the joy to be had in the snow – tobogganing, building snowmen, snowball fights, making snow angels. All such pursuits are great fun, but the cold! Who can forget the frozen fingers and the agony of warmth returning to icy hands and feet, the face flayed by bitter wind, nose pinched and cold, drawing arctic breath into aching lungs?
Snow is lovely, in small amounts, for a short while, for those who do not have to travel.
Today the wind is from the East-North-East at 4 miles per hour. The sun is shining fitfully and blue tits are busy in the garden.
Is there a poem that starts, ‘The East-North-East wind doth blow’?
Lovely post. I remember that rhyme from when I was a child. I love seeing robins. My sister always sends me a photo when she sees them. They are quite different from the American ones and much cuter!
ReplyDeleteRobins always bring a smile to my face and they're great companions in the garden. They appreciate the ground being turned over.
DeleteIt seems you put a few conditions on positivity of snow. Our Christmas cards from England never show grey slush piled up at the side of the roads or dear grannies going a over t on slippery paths.
ReplyDeleteIt's horrible when it turns to slush, especially when it freezes - grey ice!
DeleteWe walked to school whatever the weather - it was only half a mile - but I hated having to have a scarf wrapped around over my mouth when it went all wet from breathing on bitterly cold mornings, and the feeling of not being able to breathe when it was really windy and took the breath right away.
ReplyDeleteI'd not heard the other verses of the nursery rhyme- thank you for finding them
You brought back memories of damp scarves - horrible.
Delete< chuckle > Not great rhythm, that last bit!!
ReplyDeleteI'm rather wanting snow, just a little bit, so I can test whether my yaktraks are as good in the UK snow as they were in Norwegian snow! One day would be enough - than it can all vanish again. xx
A heavy overnight snowfall to test your yaktraks and then bright sun to disperse it? No problem;-)
DeleteDrawing arctic breath into aching lungs is exactly why I would never survive in such weather. It's bad enough here in my hot country when the winter mornings have frost in the air and I spend the rest of the day coughing from it. I've learned now to stay inside at least until 9am when the forecast is for frosty dawns
ReplyDeleteThis climate is not good for people with asthma or any other lung condition.
DeleteMy mother was fond of quoting the first verse of that poem in cold weather, but I never recall hearing the other verses.
ReplyDeleteFor once, I think you have it colder Down South than we do in Aberdeen!
Cheers, Gail.
It certainly makes a change for the soft South to be colder than the North.
DeleteWe have bright blue skies here, the roof tops are white with an air frost, not sure how could it is, not opened the doors yet. I too only know the 1st verse.
ReplyDeleteIt's very changeable. We can start with sun and blue skies and see it change rapidly to grey and dull!
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely read that was! I didn't know the rhyme, but I doubt that the robin would sit in a - non-converted - barn to keep warm. They love sitting out in the snow judging from old-fashioned Christmas cards, which often seemed to feature snow and robins! xxx
ReplyDeleteThey're very sociable birds with humans, not so much with other robins.
DeleteWhen the children were little we used to add our own verses:
ReplyDeleteWhen West Wind prevails
Then we shall have hail
And what do the little mice do?
They hide in the shed
And snuggle in bed
And wrap up their heads in their tails.
That's nice. What a good idea:-)
DeleteI love that verse
DeleteActually, I think that was for the East wind and it might have been noses wrapped up in tails. The West wind was gales, and the South wind heat.
DeleteThey sound wonderful - a great way to stimulate imagination.
DeleteOh yes, the joys of snow when you're 10 years old and don't know anything except that the bus is not running for school. As a matter of fact our schools were closed here yesterday because of the snow. Later in the afternoon it warmed up and melted but it was way too late for the kids to have class. I don't know they might have class by Zoom these days. However I do have some Robins in my yard which is unusual up here for the winter.
ReplyDeleteSnow days are quite disruptive for education but the children enjoy them.
DeleteRobins..snow..barns...?
ReplyDeleteI prefer this one....
Little Robin Redbreast sat upon a tree...
Up went kitty cat and down went he...
Down came kitty cat, away Robin ran...
Says little Robin Redbreast, “Catch me if you can.”
🖐️ 🖐️ 🖐️ 🖐️ 🖐️ 🖐️ 🖐️ 🖐️ 🖐️ 🖐️ 🖐️ 🖐️ 🖐️ 🖐️
Tempting fate - not sensible!
ReplyDeleteLovely pics of a lovely bird, Blackbirds are my favourite but Robins come a very close second 😍
ReplyDeleteAlison in Wales x
I love the blackbird's song - pure liquid gold.
DeleteSnow is beautiful from my window. :) But as a child, I loved it. Worth the tingling, numb toes.
ReplyDeleteSnow is beautiful and always invites play. It makes me smile when schools are closed because of snow and health and safety issues, and all the children head for the nearest hills to toboggan and have snowball fights.
DeleteWe had our first REAL snow of the season here in this abnormally snowless and warmer winter. A blizzard really, which closed schools. I remember when I was a kid I loved this kind of snow - the packy kind that could be used to build wonderful snowmen, snow forts, and snowballs. Don't see many kids out playing in the snow anymore. Undoubtedly too busy with their phones and games!
ReplyDeleteWe see more and more extremes of weather. Seasons seem to be shifting.
DeleteI think generally children are not playing outside independently.
I used to be told there was no such thing as bad weather - just the wrong clothes. I have out all the wooly jumpers but think I need to go in search of over trousers.
ReplyDeleteYou can withstand anything if appropriately dressed;-)
DeleteWell that was a cracking post with which to end my reading (and visual treats) for the day. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Graham.
DeleteBeautiful photographs of the Robin ... my favourite bird :)
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
Seeing a robin always cheers me up.
Delete