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Monday 10 November 2014

How it begins (again)

During my first year in northern Manitoba - back when I was living in Flin Flon - I recall being told that when it snows after Hallowe'en, it stays.  The snow stays and that's winter.   And it can come very quickly. 

Since last Thursday winter came and took hold.  At first it was picturesque, with a few flakes glinting in the sunlight.  On Friday morning Norway House was an image of Christmascard pastoral: every treebranch lined with soft snow.  Soft snow softly falling.  But by Friday afternoon the wind came--hard, fierce and sharp.  The lake began to freeze.  And that sharp wind stayed all weekend, freezing the river that flows past our home. The snow is now ankledeep in places.

This is how it begins. And this is how it will stay, staying with us until April.  And I admit I don't look forward to month after month of wondering, Will the car start? Months of frozen fingertips and cold ears.  But all the same, there is, to my mind, something calming and peaceful about winter. 




Thursday 6 November 2014

Re. Cheever's "The World of Apples"

When I was 19 years old I read The Letters of John Cheever. I don't believe that I'd read any of Cheever's fiction at that point, but I suppose I'd come to believe that the collection of his letters was an important thing to read.  We do that sort of thing when we're young, don't we? We come to believe that a book or an author is worthwhile, important, valuable, and so we doggedly, painstakingly read--reading every word thoughtfully, thoroughly, dutifully. 

However, some real good came of it.  My 19 year-old-self was right about Cheever. I must have intuited something about him when I picked up that book of his letters--for Cheever is a good writer. And every time I read one of his stories, I'm deeply impressed.  Just the other day I read Cheever's "The World of Apples," about an aging American poet living in Italy, and was moved by the story's quiet power.   It's one of those stories in which every word seems to be well-placed, perfectly placed, and every scene beautifully rendered, building towards a powerful - though understated - conclusion.