Show notes
December 6 - 20
This episode of Season by Season finds Kit and Alexis preparing for the darkening days of winter. Together they discuss cold weather and snow, are cheered by winter birdsong, and find light and warmth in friendship during this merry season. Hiro's Corner explores the snowy landscapes that shape our artistic ideas of wintertime.
Heavy Snow
Alexis & Kit
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Poems featured in this episode:
A December Day, by Sara Teasdale
Dawn turned on her purple pillow— And late, late came the winter day,
Snow was curved to the boughs of the willow.
— The sunless world was white and grey.
At noon we heard a blue-jay scolding,
— At five the last thin light was lost
From snow-banked windows faintly holding
— The feathery filigree of frost.
***
It Snows, by Hannah Flagg Gould
It snows! it snows! from out the sky
The feathered flakes, how fast they fly,
Like little birds, that don't know why
They're on the chase, from place to place,
While neither can the other trace.
It snows! it snows! a merry play
Is o'er us, on this heavy day!
To-morrow will the storm be done;
Then, out will come the golden sun:
And we shall see, upon the run
Before his beams, in sparkling streams,
What now a curtain o'er him seems.
And thus, with life, it ever goes;
'T is shade and shine!—It snows! it snows!
***
I Heard a Bird Sing, by Oliver Herford
I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December
A magical thing
And sweet to remember.
'We are nearer to Spring
Than we were in September,'
I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December."
***
The Cardinal, by Alice E. Ball
When autumn woods are bare and dead,
A crested bird, of cardinal red,
Sways like an oak-leaf overhead;
And sighs, "Drear! drear! Drear!"
When winter woods are white with snow,
And drifts pile high as wild winds blow,
Like flame this torchlike bird doth glow;
And cries, "Whew! whew! whew!"
***
Do all the birds
To the southlands go?
No!
No!
Oh, no!
Chickadee,
Sparrow,
Bunting,
Crow
Care not a whit
When the wild winds blow.
They care not a whit,
They’re sad not a bit,
They think naught of it,
When the wild winds blow.
(Anon.)
***
Winterberry branch
Calls winter birds for breakfast
I will feed you now
— Amy Ludwig VanDerwater
***
the wren wishes to be in the snow not the blossoms
— Chiyo-jo
***
Dust of Snow, by Robert Frost
The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree
Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.
***
Excerpt from Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott:
...Mrs. March got her wet things off, her warm slippers on, and sitting down in the easy chair, drew Amy to her lap, preparing to enjoy the happiest hour of her busy day. The girls flew about, trying to make things comfortable, each in her own way. Meg arranged the tea table, Jo brought wood and set chairs, dropping, over–turning, and clattering everything she touched. Beth trotted to and fro between parlor and kitchen, quiet and busy, while Amy gave directions to everyone, as she sat with her hands folded.
***
There’s rosemary and rue. These keep
Seeming and savor all the winter long.
Grace and remembrance be to you.
- William Shakespeare (Winter’s Tale, Act 4, Scene 4)
***
There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance; pray you, love,
remember. And there is pansies, that’s for thoughts.
-William Shakespeare (Hamlet, Act 4, Scene 5)
***
The Christmas Holly by Eliza Cook
The holly! the holly! oh, twine it with bay—
Come give the holly a song;
For it helps to drive stern winter away,
With his garment so sombre and long.
It peeps through the trees with its berries of red,
And its leaves of burnish’d green,
When the flowers and fruits have long been dead,
And not even the daisy is seen,
Then sing to the holly, the Christmas holly,
That hangs over peasant and king:
While we laugh and carouse ’neath its glitt’ring boughs,
To the Christmas holly we’ll sing.
***
People, Look East, by Eleanor Farjeon
People, look east. The time is near
Of the crowning of the year.
Make your house fair as you are able,
Trim the hearth and set the table.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the guest, is on the way.
***
From "The Shortest Day," by Susan Cooper
“So the shortest day came, and the year died,
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.”
***
Night walks with a heavy step
Round yard and hearth,
As the sun departs from earth,
Shadows are brooding.
There in our dark house,
Walking with lit candles,
Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia!
Night walks grand, yet silent,
Now hear its gentle wings,
In every room so hushed,
Whispering like wings.
Look, at our threshold stands,
White-clad with light in her hair,
Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia!
Darkness shall take flight soon,
From earth's valleys.
So she speaks
Wonderful words to us:
A new day will rise again
From the rosy sky…
Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia!
***
The Feast of Lights, by Emma Lazarus
Kindle the taper like the steadfast star
Ablaze on evening's forehead o'er the earth,
And add each night a lustre till afar
An eightfold splendor shine above thy hearth.
Clash, Israel, the cymbals, touch the lyre,
Blow the brass trumpet and the harsh-tongued horn;
Chant psalms of victory till the heart takes fire,
The Maccabean spirit leap new-born.
***
In the Window
In the window where you can see the glow of
my menorah on newly fallen snow,
I will set you one little candle on this, the first night of Hanukkah.
St. Lucia Day Buns
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup butter
1/4 lukewarm water
1 package dry yeast
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon saffron
2 3/4 cups flour
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
24 raisins (currants)
1. Warm the milk in the small saucepan over low heat. Cut the butter into small pieces. Add the butter pieces to the warm milk and stir, then turn off the heat.
2. Measure the lukewarm water into the large mixing bowl. Sprinkle the yeast over the water. Stir well. Set the bowl aside for 5 minutes.
3. Add the warm milk and melted butter to the saffron. Stir in the sugar, egg, salt and saffron. Then add 1 1/2 cups flour and stir until smooth.
4. Add enough of the remaining flour so that you can shape the dough into a ball. Save some of the remaining flour for kneading the dough.
5. Put the dough on the floured cutting board. Dust your hands with flour and knead the dough. Add flour when the dough gets sticky.
6. After 5 to 10 minutes of kneading, you will have a smooth ball of dough. It should spring back when you poke it with your finger. Cover the dough with the towel and let it rest while you wash and dry the mixing bowl.
7. Spread cooking oil in the large bowl. Roll the dough in the oil until it is coated. Cover the bowl with the towel and set in a warm place to rise. After 45 minutes, the dough should be twice as large. If not, check it again in 15 minutes.
8. Punch down the dough. Then divide it into 6 sections. Take one section and divide it in half. Roll each half into an 8 inch rope. Cross the two ropes in the middle. Then coil the ends in tight circles. Shape 5 more buns in the same way.
9. Place the buns 2 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet. Cover with the towel. Let the buns rise for 30 to 45 minutes until they double in size. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees while they are rising.
10. Mix the egg and water with the fork in the small bowl. Brush this mixture lightly over the top of each bun. Decorate the buns with raisins.
11. Bake the buns for 15 to 20 minutes. When the buns are golden brown, move them to the wire rack to cool.
Serve with coffee and enjoy!
Music Featured in this Podcast
Snow Day by Pictures of a Floating World
Mo-Oz-Tzur by Glenn Tompkins (with permission)
O Frondens by Hildegard of Bingen Peace Christmas by Lobo Loco
Deck the Halls by USAFB Concert Band
Sonata No. 8 by Ludwig Van Beethoven performed by Daniel Veesey
Wind Quintet Op. 78 by August Klughart
Violincello and Orchestra in B Minor by Antonin Dvorak
Flute Concerto in G Major by Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach
Scherzo by Goens performed by John Michel
Visual Examples of Seasonal Words
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