Snowed in Swobodas

It is joyful recollection that in a few months, I shan't see winter for up to three years!  In that case though, I am attempting to be happy that the snow is still stuck on the ground here in Seoul.

We snapped these pictures from upon our balcony, and I found mirth in this poem by Robert Louis Stevenson:

Winter Time

Late lies the wintry sun a-bed,
A frosty, fiery sleepy-head;
Blinks but an hour or two; and then,
A blood-red orange, sets again.

Before the stars have left the skies,
At morning in the dark I rise;
And shivering in my nakedness,
By the cold candle, bathe and dress.

Close by the jolly fire I sit
To warm my frozen bones a bit;
Or with a reindeer-sled, explore
The colder countries round the door.

When to go out, my nurse doth wrap
Me in my comforter and cap;
The cold wind burns my face, and blows
Its frosty pepper up my nose.

Black are my steps on silver sod;
Thick blows my frosty breath abroad;
And tree and house, and hill and lake,
Are frosted like a wedding-cake.

How simply lovely is that poem? How poignant for him to capture "frosty pepper up my nose"?! That is exactly how I feel trudging out into the cold air, but then the relief of the fresh winter wind hits, the down my spine chill, the feeling of being ALIVE.

Then to return inside, snuggling on our proper sides of the sofa,

Silent Swobodas sit.

Snowed in.

Snuggled in.

The frost has clung until February thus far, but I must admit I might be sad to see it go.