Snow-Bound: A Winter Idyl
We’ve got another snowy day today, and I’ve been thinking about how snow is often romanticized. Don’t get me wrong: There is something so satisfying about “tucking in” and feeling unburdened by the rigmarole of daily life. Especially if it’s over a weekend; today is Saturday. Somehow Laura Ingalls Wilder even managed — in the rose-colored, made-for-publishing view of her childhood — to make The Long Winter seem dreamy.
There’s a poem called ‘Snow-Bound: A Winter Idyl’ by John Greenleaf Whittier. It’s quite long, but here’s part of it:
“And, for the winter fireside meet,
Between the andirons’ straddling feet,
The mug of cider simmered slow,
The apples sputtered in a row,
And, close at hand, the basket stood
With nuts from brown October’s wood.”
Reading socks?
It’s essentially about a family “tucked in” during a snow storm and how they pass the time. At the time of its publication (1866), it was praised for embracing the “hearth and home” ethos that was so pervasive in reimagining a post-Civil War life. One reviewer wrote, “It describes scenes and manners which the rapid changes of our national habits will soon have made as remote from us as if they were foreign or ancient…Already are the railroads displacing the companionable cheer of crackling walnut with the dogged self-complacency and sullen virtue of anthracite.”
It really is lovely, but of course it depicts just one side of the coin. Winter weather can be a beast for those without resources or those who can’t “tuck in.” It’s how I see books and reading often depicted as well. Fairy lights, the perfect candle, “reading socks” (yes, those fuzzy slipper socks are sometimes marketed that way!)…as if these are all necessary for enjoying a book. This just-so version of reading ignores those who sneak in a few pages on the subway while they’re commuting, those who are actually learning to read (yes, I mean adults). Books, like strong weather, are powerful. But they’re also not just there for photo-ops — because they’re not always docile.
We sure like to make everything a #vibe, don’t we?
originally published on instagram