Winter Wind

Winter
by Nial Kent
from his book "The Divided Path"

The wind howls and blows
with steady fury,
driving the frightened snowflakes
horizontally before it.

Out of a white sky they come,
the snowflakes that whiten the earth.
The cruel wind cuts to the heart,
and the earth is without life or color.

In a grave of smooth ice
sleeps the river,
and the leaves are gone
from the willow trees.

When one is without love
the wind blows colder,
more barren is the earth,
and Spring seems far away.

Twenty-five years ago today:

December 23, 1984

This morning started with a bike ride. It was so cold and windy. Winter is here. The ride did not even warm me up much. I rode my bike straight to mom's house.

I was going to accompany mom for a visit to Grandma's house to deliver presents, so I said, "Okay, let me go home and change clothes first."

When I hopped back on the bike the next song I heard on my SONY headphones got me into a hyperactive mood. I couldn't resist and did a quick ride along South Shore beach. It was fun and I was going fast.

Once home I quickly changed into my white pants from International Male and my European blazer with a white leather tie, sweater and yellow shirt. I surprised mom.
"You look sharp," mom said.

I ate breakfast and we went to John and Sherri's house because we were going to take Ashley with us to Grandma's house. Sherri did not arrive until two o'clock. Mom and I had to sit around and wait with Sherri's mom (Janet Lewis). When Sherri finally appeared we saw Ashley in a red ruffled dress and black patent leather shoes. It was cute. We were off to Granny's.

I took photos and then we went to my Aunt Lillian's (my mom's sister) and hung out there for a while. Shawn West, my first cousin, was a lot of fun. He is ten years old now. His sister, Shonnette, is thirteen and she looks so grown-up. She's getting to be one heck of a 'looker'. We returned to Alameda by 4:30PM.

I went over to my mom's later to try two of my Grandma's homemade tamales. She uses authentic Santa Fe Southwestern chile and it's always so good.

By 6:30PM I was driving over to Karyn Kossoff's apartment. We went to the UC THEATER to see the Hitchcock classic "North by Northwest" and "Torn Curtain". They were both good...but quite long. I gave Karyn her Christmas gift. I didn't open the gift she gave me until I arrived home. I was so pleased! She gave me the Woody Wood Pecker T-Shirt and a scarf. She is too sweet. She knew I wanted that T-Shirt.

Dancing isn't enough, it seems to her now. This much contact is only making her impatient for something more passionate, more unrestrained, and she struggles not to let it show.
-Stefan Zweig
"The Post-Office Girl"