Winter came so suddenly

"O, wind, if Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?" - Percy Bysshe Shelley

"Winter is icumen in,
Lhude sing Goddamm,
Raineth drop and staineth slop,
And how the wind doth ramm!
Sing : Goddamm."
- Ezra Pound, Ancient Music

Here we were enjoying some lovely mild weather with the occasional gentle rain showers when suddenly last Thursday a little after 5:00 p.m. I looked out of our front door to see the most amazing clouds and feel the wind whipping coldly around me.

I rushed to get my camera and dashed outside to take some pictures of the dramatic sky I was seeing.

Looking south over our garage roof there were dark, threatening clouds tinged with pink with rays from the setting sun. For sure, I thought, here comes a mighty storm - better close all the windows, take the washing in!

"For the man sound in body and serene of mind there is no such thing as bad weather; every sky has its beauty, and storms which whip the blood do but make it pulse more vigorously." - George Gissing

Towards the south west the clouds were getting a frilly look, like an upside-down sea being whipped up by the wind. A choppy sea, nice to look at but not too comfortable to sail on.

"In the sheltered heart of the clumps last year's foliage still clings to the lower branches, tatters of orange that mutter with the passage of the wind, the talk of old women warning the green generation of what they, too, must come to when the sap runs back." - Jacquetta Hawkes

Strangely, to the north the sky seemed not quite so threatening, though touched with scattered clouds ranging from pale pink to dark grey.

To the south east meanwhile, the clouds were developing some interesting colours. There was an almost mystical look developing in that blue centre.

"It was one of those chilly and empty afternoons in early winter, when the daylight is silver rather than gold and pewter rather than silver." - G.K. Chesterton, The Wisdom of Father Brown

And in a few seconds the cloud began to look like a romantic painting, perhaps one of the Blessed Virgin about to ascend, or perhaps a backdrop for the birth of Venus? The sun, now lower and almost beneath the horizon, does its best to make the clouds look fancy.

The colour of springtime is in the flowers, the color of winter is in the imagination.  ~Ward Elliot Hour

Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire:  it is the time for home.  ~Edith Sitwell

And in a final blaze of glory the sun sets, but before it goes it has one more surprise for us. The rain is now coming down in large, widely-scattered drops blown about by the wind. But to the east we see that icon of hope - a rainbow, which has but a few seconds of life before the sun finally sets and we can feel that winter is truly here in the chill that comes through our clothes and sends our skin into goose-bumps.

Those goose-bumps though I think are as much for the beauty of the wild evening as for the cold.

The text and all images on this page, unless otherwise indicated, are by Tony McGregor who hereby asserts his copyright on the material. Should you wish to use any of the text or images feel free to do so with proper attribution and, if possible, a link back to this page. Thank you.

© Tony McGregor 2009