Earth stood hard as iron

Up country there has been snow, but here in the South we are enjoying a hard frost instead.  The ground in the garden crunched under foot and was covered in frost.  As I wandered down the garden I couldn't stop singing 'In the Bleak Midwinter' under my breath!

 

In the bleak mid-winter
Frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow,
In the bleak mid-winter
Long ago.

“December's wintery breath is already clouding the pond, frosting the pane, obscuring summer's memory...”   

John Geddes

 

 

 What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness?

John Steinbeck

 

But frost, like the crystallized dreams of autumn, began to coat the clearing with its sugar glaze.― Victoria Steele Logue

 

Frost is the greatest artist in our clime - he paints in nature and describes in rime.
Thomas Hood

 

In winter with warm tears I'll melt the snow
And keep eternal spring-time on thy face.

William Shakespeare

 

In the meantime we are keeping warm in front of our fire!