“
It's come at last," she thought, "the time when you can no longer stand between your children and heartache. When there wasn't enough food in the house you pretended that you weren't hungry so they could have more. In the cold of a winter's night you got up and put your blanket on their bed so they wouldn't be cold. You'd kill anyone who tried to harm them - I tried my best to kill that man in the hallway. Then one sunny day, they walk out in all innocence and they walk right into the grief that you'd give your life to spare them from.
”
”
Betty Smith (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn)
“
Sometimes she'd go a whole day without thinking of him or missing him. Why not? She had quite a full life, and really, he'd often been hard to deal with and hard to live with. A project, the Yankee oldtimers like her very own Dad might have said. And then sometimes a day would come, a gray one (or a sunny one) when she missed him so fiercely she felt empty, not a woman at all anymore but just a dead tree filled with cold November blow. She felt like that now, felt like hollering his name and hollering him home, and her heart turned sick with the thought of the years ahead and she wondered what good love was if it came to this, to even ten seconds of feeling like this.
”
”
Stephen King (Lisey's Story)
“
When she slept, she looked peaceful, beautiful. Not Lena's kind of beautiful, something different. She looked content - like a sunny day, a cold glass of milk, an unopened book before you cracked the binding.
”
”
Kami Garcia (Beautiful Darkness (Caster Chronicles, #2))
“
I do not have easy days at home now and I drift between fear and helplessness in sunny rooms where it is unspeakably cold. Strange shudders of transformation, bodily experienced to the point of vulnerability, visions of mysteries until the certainty of having died, ecstasies to the point of stony petrifaction, and a continuation of dreaming sad dreams.
”
”
Georg Trakl
“
Let it rain on some days,
Let yourself shiver on some cold nights,
So when it's Spring you'll know why it was all worth going through.
”
”
Sanhita Baruah
“
I guess no true Bostonian would trust a place that was sunny and pleasant all the time. But a gritty, perpetually cold and gloomy neighborhood? Throw in a couple of Dunkin’ Donuts locations, and I’m right at home.
”
”
Rick Riordan (The Sword of Summer (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, #1))
“
I sip my ice-cold drink and bask in the double-barreled serotonin coursing through me. Is there anything better than iced coffee and a bookstore on a sunny day? I mean, aside from hot coffee and a bookstore on a rainy day.
”
”
Emily Henry (Book Lovers)
“
A few cold words on yonder stone,
A corpse as cold as they can be -
Vain words, and mouldering dust, alone -
Can this be all that's left of thee?
O, no! thy spirit lingers still
Where'er thy sunny smile was seen:
There's less of darkness, less of chill
On earth, than if thou hadst not been.
Thou breathest in my bosom yet,
And dwellest in my beating heart;
And, while I cannot quite forget,
Thou, darling, canst not quite depart.
”
”
Anne Brontë
“
There is something beautiful about a sunny winter day,
A break from harsh gray skies and harsh cold winds,
A bright warm sun and clear blue skies instead.
”
”
Red Waterfall
“
The ice-cold way death can hit you in the noontime of a sunny day just when you'd never expect.
”
”
Chuck Palahniuk (Make Something Up: Stories You Can't Unread)
“
...,you were the light of a warm, sunny day, Tess. Darla was the dead of a cold, dark fuckin' night" His face got close and his voice got low when he finished, "it felt good to feel the sun again.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Wild Man (Dream Man, #2))
“
Katie heard the story. 'It's come at last,' she thought, 'the time when you can no longer stand between your children and heartache. When there wasn't enough food in the house you pretended you weren't hungry so they could have more. In the cold of a winter's night you got up and put your blanket on their bed so they wouldn't be cold. You'd kill anyone who tried to harm them...Then one sunny day, they walk out in all innocence and they walk right into the grief that you'd give your life to spare them.
”
”
Betty Smith
“
They pine for the hip, frosty girlfriend they abandoned for a pleasant if unexciting marriage to her sunnier, less mentally present sister coast.
”
”
Sari Botton (Never Can Say Goodbye: Writers on Their Unshakable Love for New York)
“
When people related by blood were so careful with each other, when they were so very polite, there was soon nothing left to say. Only niceties that meant so little they might as well have been spoken to a complete stranger. Pass the butter, open the door, see you after school, there's rain again, it's sunny, it's cold. Has the dog eaten? Has the window been shut? Where are you going? Why is it I don't know you at all?
Such statements did not add up to anything like a family...
”
”
Alice Hoffman (The Probable Future)
“
After the storm the city lies becalmed. It is a sunny morning, still and cold. Branches litter the streets like broken limbs. People clear away the wreckage. They swarm around like ants whose anthill has been scuffed; how doggedly they rebuild their lives.
”
”
Deborah Moggach (Tulip Fever)
“
Our mind is like a beach: Sometimes sunny, sometimes wavy, sometimes crowded, sometimes empty and lonely; at times stormy, at nights, cold and windy; in the mornings, very clear; at twilight, foggy! Our mind is like a beach, changing from one moment to another!
”
”
Mehmet Murat ildan
“
You cannot be everyone's cup of tea, but you can be someone's first sip of a cold drink on a sunny day.
Or a warming hot chocolate when you come in from the rain.
Or the pop of a long-awaited champagne cork.
Or a stiff shot of tequila when things go awry.
Find your people.
Love them hard
”
”
Donna Ashworth
“
This girl was that hot sunny day in the middle of the Cold Season, either unaware or uncaring that she did not belong.
”
”
Stephanie Garber (Caraval (Caraval, #1))
“
But now comes the cold-war resentment. Sharon has such a sunny presence that whenever she blocks out the sun, the effect is chilling.
”
”
Quentin Tarantino (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)
“
A warm sunny evening, the plash and gurgle of the waves in the rock pools, the rush of the cold gin. I thought for the first time of my novel, abandoned, all these years, and I came up, unprompted, with the perfect title. Octet. Octet by Logan Mountstuart. Perhaps I will surprise them all, yet.
”
”
William Boyd (Any Human Heart)
“
A Quoi Bon Dire"
Seventeen years ago you said
Something that sounded like Good-bye;
And everybody thinks that you are dead,
But I.
So I, as I grow stiff and cold
To this and that say Good-bye too;
And everybody sees that I am old
But you.
And one fine morning in a sunny lane
Some boy and girl will meet and kiss and swear
That nobody can love their way again,
While over there
You will have smiled, I shall have tossed your hair.
”
”
Charlotte Mew (The Farmer's Bride (1921))
“
If I were making up a story, I would have it gray and miserable outside, but it was sunny and miserable instead, glaringly bright and bitterly cold, as if the sky could not decide if it was in a good mood or would spend all day growling. I didn’t mind this kind of weather, weather that cannot make up its mind, because I am often the same way, or at least I think I am. I don’t know.
”
”
Lemony Snicket (Poison for Breakfast)
“
The world might be sunny-side up today.
The big ball of yellow might be spilling into the clouds, runny and yolky and blurring into the bluest sky, bright with cold hope and false promises about fond memories, real families, hearty breakfasts, stacks of pancakes drizzled in maple syrup sitting on a plate in a world that doesn’t exist anymore.
Or maybe not.
Maybe it’s dark and wet today, whistling wind so sharp it stings the skin off the knuckles of grown men. Maybe it’s snowing, maybe it’s raining, I don’t know maybe it’s freezing it’s hailing it’s a hurricane slip slipping into a tornado and the earth is quaking apart to make room for our mistakes.
”
”
Tahereh Mafi (Unravel Me (Shatter Me, #2))
“
Chief Johnson has full faith on us. Which means if I can complete this task and hunt down the murderer, not only does the chief won't feel any uncertainty on Anthony and I, but the spirits of the victims can move on. It sounds silly to believe that the undead is still around, but it is the truth. And since I have a good heart, I must use it.
”
”
Simi Sunny (The White Sirens)
“
A hurting person is in a storm. They are cold, wet, shivering, and scared. Preaching, platitudes, and advice will not get them out of the storm. Don’t tell a person in a storm that it’s a sunny day. There will likely come a day when the clouds part, but it is not today. It’s not your job to pull them out of the storm. It’s your job to get wet with them.
”
”
Adam S. McHugh
“
Would we love the warm sunny days as much, if it were not for the cold rainy ones?
”
”
Charles F. Glassman (Brain Drain - The Breakthrough That Will Change Your Life)
“
It was cold but sunny today! Now it’s raining! This English weather is like a madman!
”
”
Christy Lefteri (The Beekeeper of Aleppo)
“
In a cold place, there's no such thing as today, just tomorrow. Will it snow tomorrow? Will it be sunny tomorrow?
”
”
Tananarive Due (Ghost Summer)
“
Happy as a butterfly on a sunny day, I walked out of the pantry holding dry pasta and tomato sauce.
”
”
Scarlett Dawn (Cold Mark (Mark, #1))
“
Sunnie could talk to a dead body for an hour before she’d notice the person wasn’t breathing, and likely finish her story even after she had.
”
”
Robert Dugoni (A Cold Trail (Tracy Crosswhite, #7))
“
On a sunny Tuesday morning towards the end of March, a white-haired man walked into a cold room and told me I might die soon.
”
”
Seth King (The Summer Remains (The Summer Remains, #1))
“
They conducted their love affair in the room above the abandoned corn exchange as the autumn weather came lop-leggedly in from the east: now a warm day, now a sunny one, now four days of cold winds and thin rain.
”
”
Gregory Maguire (Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (The Wicked Years, #1))
“
The effect of the weather on the inhabitants of Provence is immediate and obvious. They expect every day to be sunny, and their disposition suffers when it isn't. Rain they take as a personal affront, shaking their heads and commiserating with each other in the cafes, looking with profound suspicion at the sky as though a plague of locusts is about to descend, and picking their way with distaste through the puddles on the pavement. If anything worse than a rainy day should come along, such as this sub-zero snap, the result is startling: most the population disappears... But what did everyone else do? The earth was frozen, the vines were clipped and dormant, it was too cold to hunt. Had they all gone on holiday?...It was a puzzle, until we realized how many of the local people had their birthdays in September or October, and then a possible but unverifiable answer suggested itself: they were busy indoors making babies. There is a season for everything in Provence, and the first two months of the year must be devoted to procreation. We have never dared to ask.
”
”
Peter Mayle
“
Wild Peaches"
When the world turns completely upside down
You say we’ll emigrate to the Eastern Shore
Aboard a river-boat from Baltimore;
We’ll live among wild peach trees, miles from town,
You’ll wear a coonskin cap, and I a gown
Homespun, dyed butternut’s dark gold color.
Lost, like your lotus-eating ancestor,
We’ll swim in milk and honey till we drown.
The winter will be short, the summer long,
The autumn amber-hued, sunny and hot,
Tasting of cider and of scuppernong;
All seasons sweet, but autumn best of all.
The squirrels in their silver fur will fall
Like falling leaves, like fruit, before your shot.
2
The autumn frosts will lie upon the grass
Like bloom on grapes of purple-brown and gold.
The misted early mornings will be cold;
The little puddles will be roofed with glass.
The sun, which burns from copper into brass,
Melts these at noon, and makes the boys unfold
Their knitted mufflers; full as they can hold
Fat pockets dribble chestnuts as they pass.
Peaches grow wild, and pigs can live in clover;
A barrel of salted herrings lasts a year;
The spring begins before the winter’s over.
By February you may find the skins
Of garter snakes and water moccasins
Dwindled and harsh, dead-white and cloudy-clear.
3
When April pours the colors of a shell
Upon the hills, when every little creek
Is shot with silver from the Chesapeake
In shoals new-minted by the ocean swell,
When strawberries go begging, and the sleek
Blue plums lie open to the blackbird’s beak,
We shall live well — we shall live very well.
The months between the cherries and the peaches
Are brimming cornucopias which spill
Fruits red and purple, sombre-bloomed and black;
Then, down rich fields and frosty river beaches
We’ll trample bright persimmons, while you kill
Bronze partridge, speckled quail, and canvasback.
4
Down to the Puritan marrow of my bones
There’s something in this richness that I hate.
I love the look, austere, immaculate,
Of landscapes drawn in pearly monotones.
There’s something in my very blood that owns
Bare hills, cold silver on a sky of slate,
A thread of water, churned to milky spate
Streaming through slanted pastures fenced with stones.
I love those skies, thin blue or snowy gray,
Those fields sparse-planted, rendering meagre sheaves;
That spring, briefer than apple-blossom’s breath,
Summer, so much too beautiful to stay,
Swift autumn, like a bonfire of leaves,
And sleepy winter, like the sleep of death.
”
”
Elinor Wylie
“
The difference between extras and audience members is that audience members don’t get chairs. Audience members are the daylaborers of the industry. When it's sunny, we stand in the sun. When it’s cold, we stand in the cold.
”
”
J. Richard Singleton (Background Guy (essays))
“
I am, for certain, a powerful force. I've stood outside on a winter day, for years an unending winter, without batting an eye. While you... even when you go out on a sunny day, you bring a sweater just in case. You can never be on the outskirts, you can never be in the cold, you can never be at the losing end. You need your blankets. You make me think twice about what it means to be a protector; you protected me so well only because I was beside you. It wasn't about me. It was still about you. But I have learned... that even in the winter the summer lasts within me. Flowers grow and sunbeams exit the palms of my hands. And that I can grow feathers and lots of fur.
”
”
C. JoyBell C.
“
If there is a place in heaven for Labrador Retrievers (and I trust there is or I won't go) it'll have to have a brook right smack in the middle - a brook with little thin shoals for wading and splashing; a brook with deep, still pools where they can throw themselves headlong from the bank; a brook with lots of small sticks floating that can be retrieved back to shore where they belong; a brook with muskrats and muskrat holes; a brook with green herons and wood ducks; a brook that is never twice the same with surprises that run and swim and fly; a brook that is cold enough to make the man with the dog run like the devil away from his shaking; a brook with a fine spot to get muddy and a sunny spot or two to get dry.
”
”
Gene Hill
“
If the weather is sunny, it is good; if the weather is rainy, it is good; if it is foggy, it is good; if it is stormy, it is good; if it is damn cold, it is good; if it is damn hot, it is good! With a positive attitude of mind, all becomes good!
”
”
Mehmet Murat ildan
“
I want to know
Have you ever seen the rain
Comin' down on a sunny day?
Yesterday and days before
Sun is cold and rain is hard
I know been that way for all my time
'Til forever, on it goes
Through the circle, fast and slow,
I know it can't stop, I wonder
”
”
John C. Fogerty
“
He can’t imagine ever getting accustomed to the effortless hairpin turns of the weather around here. He’s used to a hot sunny day being a hot sunny day, a cold rainy day being a cold rainy day, and so on. Here, some days the weather seems like it’s just fucking with people on principle.
”
”
Tana French (The Searcher)
“
I felt guilty. I felt guilty because there I was, making a fuss over Jeff’s leaving, when I wouldn’t have minded going right along with him.
He wasn’t the only one who missed Dad. I did, too. And I missed my friend Sunny, and I missed the kids I used to baby-sit for.
Face it. I wanted to go back to California, too, but I wouldn’t leave Mom. No way. We were much too close for that. Besides, I liked Stoneybrook, too. Even in the middle of the freezing cold, snowy, icy winter, I liked Stoneybrook. What I wished was that we hadn’t moved at all. Then I wouldn’t feel so confused.
”
”
Ann M. Martin (Little Miss Stoneybrook... and Dawn (The Baby-Sitters Club, #15))
“
No, for some unknown reason, I feel more at home in the Italian Alps than I do in the brutal heat of Puglia. I like brisk autumns, snowy winters, rainy springs, and temperate summers. The change of seasons allows for a change in one’s wardrobe (I’m sartorially obsessed) and, most important, one’s diet. A boeuf carbonnade tastes a thousand times better in the last days of autumn than when it’s eighty degrees and the sun is shining. An Armagnac is the perfect complement to a snowy night by the fire but not to an August beach outing, just as a crisp Orvieto served with spaghetti con vongole is ideal “al fresco” on a sunny summer afternoon but not nearly as satisfying when eaten indoors on a cold winter’s night. One thing feeds the other. (Pun intended.) So a visit to Iceland to escape the gloom of what is known in London as “winter” was an exciting prospect. However, my greatest concern, as you can probably guess, if you’re still reading this, was the food.
”
”
Stanley Tucci (Taste: My Life Through Food)
“
Few things are harder to visualise than that a cold snowbound landscape, so marrow-chillingly quiet and lifeless, will, within mere months, be green and lush and warm, quivering with all manner of life, from birds warbling and flying through the trees to swarms of insects hanging in scattered clusters in the air. Nothing in the winter landscape presages the scent of sun-warmed heather and moss, trees bursting with sap and thawed lakes ready for spring and summer, nothing presages the feeling of freedom that can come over you when the only white that can be seen is the clouds gliding across the blue sky above the blue water of the rivers gently flowing down to the sea, the perfect, smooth, cool surface, broken now and then by rocks, rapids and bathing bodies. It is not there, it does not exist, everything is white and still, and if the silence is broken it is by a cold wind or a lone crow caw-cawing. But it is coming ... it is coming... One evening in March the snow turns to rain, and the piles of snow collapse. One morning in April there are buds on the trees, and there is a trace of green in the yellow grass. Daffodils appear, white and blue anemones too. Then the warm air stands like a pillar among the trees on the slopes. On sunny inclines buds have burst, here and there cherry trees are in blossom. If you are sixteen years old all of this makes an impression, all of this leaves its mark, for this is the first spring you know is spring, with all your sense you know this is spring, and it is the last, for all coming springs pale in comparison with your first. If, moreover, you are in love, well, then ... then it is merely a question of holding on. Holding on to all the happiness, all the beauty, all the future that resides in everything.
”
”
Karl Ove Knausgård (Min kamp 2 (Min kamp, #2))
“
We’d arrived on the outskirts of a little ski town nestled in the mountains. The sign said WELCOME TO CLOUDCROFT, NEW MEXICO. The air was cold and thin. The roofs of the cabins were heaped with snow, and dirty mounds of it were piled up on the sides of the streets. Tall pine trees loomed over the valley, casting pitch-black shadows, though the morning was sunny.
”
”
Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson and the Titan's Curse (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #3))
“
The lazy, laughing South
With blood on its mouth.
The sunny-faced South,
Beast-strong,
Idiot-brained.
The child-minded South
Scratching in the dead fire’s ashes
For a Negro’s bones.
Cotton and the moon,
Warmth, earth, warmth,
The sky, the sun, the stars,
The magnolia-scented South.
Beautiful, like a woman,
Seductive as a dark-eyed whore,
Passionate, cruel,
Honey-lipped, syphilitic—
That is the South.
And I, who am black, would love her
But she spits in my face.
And I, who am black,
Would give her many rare gifts
But she turns her back upon me.
So now I seek the North—
The cold-faced North,
For she, they say,
Is a kinder mistress,
And in her house my children
May escape the spell of the South.
”
”
Langston Hughes (The Weary Blues)
“
A climate's changes are tough to quantify. Butterflies can help. Entomologists prefer "junk species--" the kind of butterflies too common for most collections-- to keep up with what's going on in the insect's world. They're easy to find and observe. When do something unusual, something's changed in the area.
Art Shapiro's team at UC Davis monitors ten local study sites, some since the 1970s. The ubiquitous species are the study's go-tos, helping distinguish between lasting changes (climate warming, habitat loss) and ones that will right themselves (one cold winter, droughts like last year's). Consistency is key; they collect details year after year, no empty data sets between.
A few species have disappeared from parts of the study area altogether, probably a lasting change. On the other hand, seemingly big news in 2012 might be just a year's aberration. Two butterflies came back to the city of Davis last year, the umber skipper after 30 years, the woodland skipper after 20-- both likely a result of a dry winter with near-perfect breeding conditions of sunny afternoons and cool nights.
”
”
Johnson Rizzo
“
Katie heard the story. "It's come at last, she thought, "the time when you can no longer stand between your children and heartache. When there wasn't enough food in the house you pretended that you weren't hungry so they could have more. In the cold of a winter's night you got up and put your blanket on their bedsos they wouldn't be cold. You'd kill anyone who tried to harm them - I tried my best to kill that man in the hallway. Then one sunny day, they walk out in all innocence and they walk right into the grief that you'd give your life to spare them.
”
”
Betty Smith (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn)
“
Katie heard the story. “It’s come at last,” she thought, “the time when you can no longer stand between your children and heartache. When there wasn’t enough food in the house you pretended that you weren’t hungry so they could have more. In the cold of a winter’s night you got up and put your blanket on their bed so they wouldn’t be cold. You’d kill anyone who tried to harm them—I tried my best to kill that man in the hallway. Then one sunny day, they walk out in all innocence and they walk right into the grief that you’d give your life to spare them.” Francie
”
”
Betty Smith (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn)
“
Almost worse than the sorrow of missing her was the fact that Mom's death had revealed everything to be meaningless. So much of what I'd thought was true had turned out to be an illusion. I saw people around me living by these illusions— that love and safety could be counted on, that life had meaning and the future could be controlled— and I did not feel that I could ever again share their suspended disbelief. I was swimming against a strong, cold current: I could see them there, playing on a sunny beach, but I couldn't rejoin them. Continuing the struggle seemed not only incredibly painful but, even worse, pointless.
”
”
Sarah Perry (After the Eclipse: A Mother's Murder, a Daughter's Search)
“
There was a bag of coffee beans beneath a harpoon gun and a frozen hunk of spinach, but there was no way to grind the beans into tiny pieces to make coffee. Near a picnic basket and a large bag of mushrooms was a jug of orange juice, but it had been close to one of the bullet holes in the trunk, and so had frozen completely solid in the cold. And after Sunny moved aside three chunks of cold cheese, a large can of water chestnuts, and an eggplant as big as herself, she finally found a small jar of boysenberry jam, and a loaf of bread she could use to make toast, although it was so cold it felt more like a log than a breakfast ingredient.
”
”
Lemony Snicket (The Slippery Slope (A Series of Unfortunate Events, #10))
“
In the deep woods of the far North, under feathery leaves of fern, was a great fairyland of merry elves, sometimes called forest brownies.
These elves lived joyfully. They had everything at hand and did not need to worry much about living. Berries and nuts grew plentiful in the forest. Rivers and springs provided the elves with crystal water. Flowers prepared them drink from their flavorful juices, which the munchkins loved greatly.
At midnight the elves climbed into flower cups and drank drops of their sweet water with much delight. Every elf would tell a wonderful fairy tale to the flower to thank it for the treat.
Despite this abundance, the pixies did not sit back and do nothing. They tinkered with their tasks all day long. They cleaned their houses. They swung on tree branches and swam in forested streams. Together with the early birds, they welcomed the sunrise, listened to the thunder growling, the whispering of leaves and blades of grass, and the conversations of the animals.
The birds told them about warm countries, sunbeams whispered of distant seas, and the moon spoke of treasures hidden deeply in the earth.
In winter, the elves lived in abandoned nests and hollows. Every sunny day they came out of their burrows and made the forest ring with their happy shouts, throwing tiny snowballs in all directions and building snowmen as small as the pinky finger of a little girl. The munchkins thought they were giants five times as large as them.
With the first breath of spring, the elves left their winter residences and moved to the cups of the snowdrop flowers. Looking around, they watched the snow as it turned black and melted. They kept an eye on the blossoming of hazel trees while the leaves were still sleeping in their warm buds. They observed squirrels moving their last winter supplies from storage back to their homes. Gnomes welcomed the birds coming back to their old nests, where the elves lived during winters. Little by little, the forest once more grew green.
One moonlight night, elves were sitting at an old willow tree and listening to mermaids singing about their underwater kingdom.
“Brothers! Where is Murzilka? He has not been around for a long time!” said one of the elves, Father Beardie, who had a long white beard. He was older than others and well respected in his striped stocking cap.
“I’m here,” a snotty voice arose, and Murzilka himself, nicknamed Feather Head, jumped from the top of the tree. All the brothers loved Murzilka, but thought he was lazy, as he actually was. Also, he loved to dress in a tailcoat, tall black hat, boots with narrow toes, a cane and a single eyeglass, being very proud of that look.
“Do you know where I’m coming from? The very Arctic Ocean!” roared he.
Usually, his words were hard to believe. That time, though, his announcement sounded so marvelous that all elves around him were agape with wonder.
“You were there, really? Were you? How did you get there?” asked the sprites.
“As easy as ABC! I came by the fox one day and caught her packing her things to visit her cousin, a silver fox who lives by the Arctic Ocean.
“Take me with you,” I said to the fox.
“Oh, no, you’ll freeze there! You know, it’s cold there!” she said.
“Come on.” I said. “What are you talking about? What cold? Summer is here.”
“Here we have summer, but there they have winter,” she answered.
“No,” I thought. “She must be lying because she does not want to give me a ride.”
Without telling her a word, I jumped upon her back and hid in her bushy fur, so even Father Frost could not find me.
Like it or not, she had to take me with her.
We ran for a long time. Another forest followed our woods, and then a boundless plain opened, a swamp covered with lichen and moss. Despite the intense heat, it had not entirely thawed.
“This is tundra,” said my fellow traveler.
“Tundra? What is tundra?” asked I.
“Tundra is a huge, forever frozen wetland covering the entire coast of the Arctic Ocean.
”
”
Anna Khvolson
“
She sat and watched the dockhand when it was sunny and she sat and watched him when it rained. Or when it was foggy, which is what it was nearly every morning at eight o’clock. This morning was none of the above. This morning was cold. The pier smelled of fresh water and of fish. The seagulls screeched overhead, a man’s voice shouted. Where is my brother to help me, my sister, my mother? Pasha, help me, hide in the woods where I know I can find you. Dasha, look what’s happened. Do you even see? Mama, Mama. I want my mother. Where is my family to ask things of me, to weigh on me, to intrude on me, to never let me be silent or alone, where are they to help me through this? Deda, what do I do? I don’t know what to do. This morning the dockhand did not go over to see his friend at the next pier for a smoke and a coffee. Instead, he walked across the road and sat next to her on the bench. This surprised her. But she said nothing, she just wrapped her white nurse’s coat tighter around herself, and fixed the kerchief covering her hair. In Swedish he said to her, “My name is Sven. What’s your name?” After a longish pause, she replied. “Tatiana. I don’t speak Swedish.” In English he said to her, “Do you want a cigarette?” “No,” she replied, also in English. She thought of telling him she spoke little English. She was sure he didn’t speak Russian. He asked her if he could get her a coffee, or something warm to throw over her shoulders. No and no. She did not look at him. Sven was silent a moment. “You want to get on my barge, don’t you?” he asked. “Come. I will take you.” He took her by her arm. Tatiana didn’t move. “I can see you have left something behind,” he said, pulling on her gently. “Go and retrieve it.” Tatiana did not move. “Take my cigarette, take my coffee, or get on my barge. I won’t even turn away. You don’t have to sneak past me. I would have let you on the first time you came. All you had to do was ask. You want to go to Helsinki? Fine. I know you’re not Finnish.” Sven paused. “But you are very pregnant. Two months ago it would have been easier for you. But you need to go back or go forward. How long do you plan to sit here and watch my back?” Tatiana stared into the Baltic Sea. “If I knew, would I be sitting here?” “Don’t sit here anymore. Come,” said the longshoreman. She shook her head. “Where is your husband? Where is the father of your baby?” “Dead in the Soviet Union,” Tatiana breathed out. “Ah, you’re from the Soviet Union.” He nodded. “You’ve escaped somehow? Well, you’re here, so stay. Stay in Sweden. Go to the consulate, get yourself refugee protection. We have hundreds of people getting through from Denmark. Go to the consulate.” Tatiana shook her head. “You’re going to have that baby soon,” Sven said. “Go back, or move forward.” Tatiana’s hands went around her belly. Her eyes glazed over. The dockhand patted her gently and stood up. “What will it be? You want to go back to the Soviet Union? Why?” Tatiana did not reply. How to tell him her soul had been left there? “If you go back, what happens to you?” “I die most likely,” she barely whispered. “If you go forward, what happens to you?” “I live most likely.” He clapped his hands. “What kind of a choice is that? You must go forward.” “Yes,” said Tatiana, “but how do I live like this? Look at me. You think, if I could, I wouldn’t?” “So you’re here in the Stockholm purgatory, watching me move my paper day in and day out, watching me smoke, watching me. What are you going to do? Sit with your baby on the bench? Is that what you want?” Tatiana was silent. The first time she laid eyes on him she was sitting on a bench, eating ice cream. “Go forward.” “I don’t have it in me.” He nodded. “You have it. It’s just covered up. For you it’s winter.” He smiled. “Don’t worry. Summer’s here. The ice will melt.” Tatiana struggled up from the bench. Walking away, she said in Russian, “It’s not the ice anymore, my seagoing philosopher. It’s the pyre.
”
”
Paullina Simons (Tatiana and Alexander (The Bronze Horseman, #2))
“
Black writing through white paper
Each time she groped her way back to health, she would find that life now cast a certain chill. A feeling which it would be too feeble to call “resentment”, too severe to call “rancour”. As though the one who had been tucking her in and kissing her forehead each night had suddenly turned on her yet again, driving her out of the house into the cold, making her painfully aware that all those sunny smiles had been only on the surface.
Looking at herself in the mirror, she never forgot that death was hovering behind that face. Faint yet tenacious, like black writing bleeding through thin paper.
Learning to love life again is a long and complicated process.
Because at some point you will inevitably cast me aside.
When I am at my weakest, when I am most in need of help,
You will turn your back on me, cold and irrevocable.
And that is something perfectly clear to me.
And I cannot now return to the time before that knowledge.
”
”
Han Kang (The White Book)
“
The day was sunny, fine for walking, brisk, and getting brisker—and in fact, as I cut a diagonal through a little plaza somewhere above Fortieth Street, the last autumn leaves leapt up from the pavement and swirled around our heads, and a sudden misty quality in the atmosphere above seemed to solidify into a ceiling both dark and luminous, and the passersby hunched into their collars, and two minutes later the gusts had settled into a wind, not hard, but steady and cold, and my hands dove into my coat pockets. A bit of rain speckled the pavement. Random snowflakes spiraled in the air. All around me, people seemed to be evacuating the scene, while across the square a vendor shouted that he was closing his cart and you could have his wares for practically nothing, and for no reason I could have named I bought two of his rat-dogs with everything and a cup of doubtful coffee and then learned the reason—they were wonderful. I nearly ate the napkin. New York!
”
”
Denis Johnson (The Largesse of the Sea Maiden)
“
A small smudge over there—the bird cruised down to see, hopeful, hungry. But he was disappointed; the smudge did not move. For it was an arm, sticking out of the snow, attached to a body buried beneath. Another odd blot of lifelessness, another, another—the bird took it all in from his aerial vantage point. A yellow hat atop a grey head, eyes frozen shut. A hand, poking out of a drift; a child’s hand, so small, so white, a deathly white, paler than the snow. A wagon wheel, a pale blue dress fluttering out of its spokes, and inside that dress, a lifeless female body. Clothing fluttered, moving, tricking the hawk time and again into thinking it had found its breakfast. Clothing blown off bodies that were now naked to the elements, like the one over there, only a few heartbreaking steps away from a barn. And more small hands, feet, faces upturned, eyes shut tight. That deathly pallor, blue grey against the dazzling white snow. The hawk turned northward, hoping for better hunting grounds. But he was doomed to be disappointed on this cold, sunny morning.
”
”
Melanie Benjamin (The Children's Blizzard)
“
Modern-day Iran has no such imperial designs, but it does seek to expand its influence, and the obvious direction is across the flatlands to its west – the Arab world and its Shia minorities. It has made ground in Iraq since the US invasion delivered a Shia-majority government. This has alarmed Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia and helped fuel the Middle East’s version of the Cold War with the Saudi–Iranian relationship at its core. Saudi Arabia may be bigger than Iran, it may be many times richer than Iran due to its well-developed oil and gas industries, but its population is much smaller (33 million Saudis as opposed to 81 million Iranians) and militarily it is not confident about its ability to take on its Persian neighbour if this cold war ever turns hot and their forces confront each other directly. Each side has ambitions to be the dominant power in the region, and each regards itself as the champion of its respective version of Islam. When Iraq was under the heel of Saddam, a powerful buffer separated Saudi Arabia and Iran; with that buffer gone, the two countries now glare at each other across the Gulf. The American-led deal on Iran’s nuclear facilities, which was concluded in the summer of 2015, has in no way reassured the Gulf States that the threat to them from Iran has diminished, and the increasingly bitter war of words between Saudi Arabia and Iran continues, along with a war sometimes fought by proxy elsewhere most notably in Yemen.
”
”
Tim Marshall (Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need to Know About Global Politics)
“
„The air was saturated with the finest flour of a silence so nourishing, so succulent, that I could move through it only with a sort of greed, especially on those first mornings of Easter week, still cold, when I tasted it more keenly because I had only just arrived in Combray: before I went in to say good morning to my aunt, they made me wait for a moment, in the first room where the sun, still wintry, had come to warm itself before the fire, already lit between the two bricks and coating the whole room with an odour of soot, having the same effect as one of those great country ‘front-of-the-ovens’, or one of those château mantelpieces, beneath which one sits hoping that outdoors there will be an onset of rain, snow, even some catastrophic deluge so as to add, to the comfort of reclusion, the poetry of hibernation; I would take a few steps from the prayer stool to the armchairs of stamped velvet always covered with a crocheted antimacassar; and as the fire baked like a dough the appetizing smells with which the air of the room was all curdled and which had already been kneaded and made to ‘rise’ by the damp and sunny coolness of the morning, it flaked them, gilded them, puckered them, puffed them, making them into an invisible, palpable country pastry, an immense ‘turnover’ in which, having barely tasted the crisper, more delicate, more highly regarded but also drier aromas of the cupboard, the chest of drawers, the floral wallpaper, I would always come back with an unavowed covetousness to snare myself in the central, sticky, stale, indigestible and fruity smell of the flowered coverlet.
”
”
Marcel Proust (Swann’s Way (In Search of Lost Time, #1))
“
We begin with an onion soup as smoky and fragrant as autumn leaves, with croutons and grated Gruyère and a sprinkle of paprika over the top. She serves and watches me throughout, waiting, perhaps, for me to produce from thin air an even more perfect confection that will cast her effort into the shade.
Instead I eat, and talk, and smile, and compliment the chef, and the chink of crockery goes through her head, and she feels slightly dazed, not quite herself. Well, pulque is a mysterious brew, and the punch is liberally spiked with it, courtesy of Yours Truly, of course, in honor of the joyful occasion. As comfort, perhaps, she serves more punch, and the scent of the cloves is like being buried alive, and the taste is like chilies spiced with fire, and she wonders, Will it ever end?
The second course is sweet foie gras, sliced on thin toast with quinces and figs. It's the snap that gives this dish its charm, like the snap of correctly tempered chocolate, and the foie gras melts so lingeringly in the mouth, as soft as praline truffle, and it is served with a glass of ice-cold Sauternes that Anouk disdains, but which Rosette sips in a tiny glass no larger than a thimble, and she gives her rare and sunny smile, and signs impatiently for more.
The third course is a salmon baked en papillote and served whole, with a béarnaise sauce. Alice complains she is nearly full, but Nico shares his plate with her, feeding her tidbits and laughing at her minuscule appetite.
Then comes the pièce de résistance: the goose, long roasted in a hot oven so that the fat has melted from the skin, leaving it crisp and almost caramelized, and the flesh so tender it slips off the bones like a silk stocking from a lady's leg. Around it there are chestnuts and roast potatoes, all cooked and crackling in the golden fat.
”
”
Joanne Harris (The Girl with No Shadow (Chocolat, #2))
“
Reagan Truman’s cell phone clamored in the darkness. It took several rings to find it.
“Hello,” she mumbled, hoping she didn’t wake her uncle in the next room.
“Rea, this is Noah.”
“It’s late, Noah.” She pulled she string on an old Tiffany-style lamp that was probably five times her age. Something was wrong; not even Noah called this late.
“I know, Rea. But I need to talk to you.”
She shoved her hair out of her face and tried to force sleep away. “All right, what’s up?”
“I’m in the hospital, Rea. I was hurt tonight in Memphis.”
“How bad?” she laughed nervously. She’d almost asked if he was still alive. There was a long pause on the line. “I don’t know. Bad. Broken arm, two ribs, but it’s my back that has me worried.” He didn’t speak for a moment. When he began again, he sounded more like a frightened boy than a man of twenty. “I’m hurt bad enough to maybe kick me off the circuit. When I hit the dirt, I was out cold. They said I kept yelling your name in the ambulance, but I don’t remember. All I remember is the pain.”
“Noah, what can I do? Do you want me to go over to your folk’s house? I think they’re in town. I could call your sister, Alex.”
“No, I don’t want them to worry. I know mom. She’ll freak out and dad will start lecturing me like I’m still a kid. I don’t want them to know anything until I know how serious it is. They’re still not telling me much yet.” He paused, and she knew he was fighting to keep his voice calm. “Rea, I got to face this before I ask them to. If it’s nothing, they don’t even need to know. If it’s crippling, I got to have a plan.”
She understood. Noah had always been their positive, sunny child. The McAllens had already lost one son eight years ago. She’d seen the panic in their eyes once when Noah had been admitted to the hospital after an accident. She understood why he’d want to save them pain.
“What can I do?”
He was silent for a moment, and then he said simply, “Come get me. No matter how bad it is, I want you near when I find out.
”
”
Jodi Thomas (The Comforts of Home (Harmony, #3))
“
A fierce battle was taking place at Tobruk, and nothing thrilled him more than spirited warfare and the prospect of military glory. He stayed up until three-thirty, in high spirits, “laughing, chaffing and alternating business with conversation,” wrote Colville. One by one his official guests, including Anthony Eden, gave up and went to bed. Churchill, however, continued to hold forth, his audience reduced to only Colville and Mary’s potential suitor, Eric Duncannon. Mary by this point had retired to the Prison Room, aware that the next day held the potential to change her life forever. — IN BERLIN, MEANWHILE, HITLER and Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels joked about a newly published English biography of Churchill that revealed many of his idiosyncrasies, including his penchant for wearing pink silk underwear, working in the bathtub, and drinking throughout the day. “He dictates messages in the bath or in his underpants; a startling image which the Führer finds hugely amusing,” Goebbels wrote in his diary on Saturday. “He sees the English Empire as slowly disintegrating. Not much will be salvageable.” — ON SUNDAY MORNING, a low-grade anxiety colored the Cromwellian reaches of Chequers. Today, it seemed, would be the day Eric Duncannon proposed to Mary, and no one other than Mary was happy about it. Even she, however, was not wholly at ease with the idea. She was eighteen years old and had never had a romantic relationship, let alone been seriously courted. The prospect of betrothal left her feeling emotionally roiled, though it did add a certain piquancy to the day. New guests arrived: Sarah Churchill, the Prof, and Churchill’s twenty-year-old niece, Clarissa Spencer-Churchill—“looking quite beautiful,” Colville noted. She was accompanied by Captain Alan Hillgarth, a raffishly handsome novelist and self-styled adventurer now serving as naval attaché in Madrid, where he ran intelligence operations; some of these were engineered with the help of a lieutenant on his staff, Ian Fleming, who later credited Captain Hillgarth as being one of the inspirations for James Bond. “It was obvious,” Colville wrote, “that Eric was expected to make advances to Mary and that the prospect was viewed with nervous pleasure by Mary, with approbation by Moyra, with dislike by Mrs. C. and with amusement by Clarissa.” Churchill expressed little interest. After lunch, Mary and the others walked into the rose garden, while Colville showed Churchill telegrams about the situation in Iraq. The day was sunny and warm, a nice change from the recent stretch of cold. Soon, to Colville’s mystification, Eric and Clarissa set off on a long walk over the grounds by themselves, leaving Mary behind. “His motives,” Colville wrote, “were either Clarissa’s attraction, which she did not attempt to keep in the background, or else the belief that it was good policy to arouse Mary’s jealousy.” After the walk, and after Clarissa and Captain Hillgarth had left, Eric took a nap, with the apparent intention (as Colville
”
”
Erik Larson (The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz)
“
For all the things I didn’t say,
About how I felt all along the way.
I have always found love in your heart.
O mother-my-love, I’ll never let what we have fall apart.
Whether it’s the sunny May or the cold December,
Mama, you’re the one I’ll always remember.
I may never find words to express what you mean to me;
As long as you’re here, I will be...
”
”
Kiran Bisht
“
She reached her hand behind her back and grabbed his. She could just as easily have gripped another part of him because she wasn’t looking. She was wearing gloves, the thin kind, but he wasn’t. He had forgotten to bring them, and it wasn’t cold. Even if it had been, he wouldn’t have noticed it. Inside him, it was like a sunny summer’s day on a Cornish beach – complete with a light breeze that ensured it wasn’t too lovely. He worried that she didn’t realise she was holding his hand. She probably didn’t want to hold anybody’s hand and particularly not his.
”
”
Pamela Harju (Sympathetic Strings)
“
I don't know how to describe that feeling, just to say that it's kind of like cold, sunny days. Something is discomforting about a sun that gives no heat but keeps shining.
”
”
Renée Watson (Piecing Me Together)
“
Theme
It's a sunny weekday in early May
and after a ham sandwich
and a cold bottle of beer on the brick terrace,
I am consumed by the wish
to add something
to one of the ancient themes–
youth dancing with his eyes closed,
for example,
in the shadows of corruption and death,
or the rise and fall of illustrious men
strapped to the turning
wheel of mischance and disaster.
There is a slight breeze,
just enough to bend
the yellow tulips on their stems,
but that hardly helps me
echo the longing for immortality
despite the roaring juggernaut of time,
or the painful motif
of Nature's cyclial return
versus man's blind rush to the grave.
I could loosen my shirt
and lie down in the soft grass,
sweet now after its first cutting,
but that would not produce
a record of the pursuit
of the moth of eternal beauty
or the despondency that attends
the eventual dribble
of the once gurgling fountain of creativity.
So, as far as great topics go,
that seems to leave only
the fall from exuberant maturity
into sudden, headlong decline–
a subject that fills me with silence
and leaves me with no choice
but to spend the rest of the day
sniffing the jasmine vine
and surrendering to the ivory goverance
of the piano by picking out
with my index finger
the melody notes of "Easy to Love,"
a song in which Cole Porter expresses,
with put-on nonchalance,
the hopelessness of a love
brimming with desire
and a hunger for affection,
but met only and always with frosty disregard.
”
”
Billy Collins (The Trouble With Poetry - And Other Poems)
“
I tried!” She screamed, her eyes filled with raw emotion. All Sarah could do is stand there, speechless at this outburst. Sunni whirled on her heels, pacing back and forth in the narrow confines of the bedroom. “I tried as hard as I fucking could!” She continued, her voice thick with tears and heavy with anger .”I did the best I could! I loved you, no matter what. I loved every part of you, and I accepted who you were! I didn't like some parts, but you know what? It's who you fucking are! That's what you do as a partner!”
She turned on Sarah now, her finger pointed in her direction, tears spilling over as the emotion got the best of her. “I loved you through it all, and what did you do? You abandoned me. You made empty promises to me, ones that filled my heart with hope. Even in my darkest times, you made it about you. Is that who you are, Sarah?!” H
Sunni's voice dropped now, a whisper of shattered glass. “You left me, you abandoned me. Even in my greatest need, I was still there for you. And yet, you couldn't do the same for me. Why? Am I not good enough for you?”
Sarah moved to speak, her throat closing with raw emotion. Sunni shook her head, her hand up to halt Sarah. “No, don't speak. Don't lie to me. No more lies, no more bullshit. If I was enough, then why weren't you there?” She let out a laugh now, a sound that was reminiscence to raw sandpaper. “I needed you, time and time again. I was there for you, because it was my job. It was my fucking duty as your partner to help you, to lift you up. And all you saw me as was a burden, someone who didn't conform to your little box. You're just like your fucking step mom.”
Sarah jerked at the insult, her blood going cold. She didn't freeze because she was insulted. She froze because she knew it was true. “Sunni....Please. I really am sorry. I want to fix this with you. I can be bet-”
Sunni shook her head, cutting off Sarah. “You've promised that before. I've shattered my heart with you, I've dedicated myself to you. And you didn't even have the common decency to return the favor. We're done, Sarah.” Her heart felt like lead, now. But she knew what she had to do.
“I'm leaving you, Sarah. I can't do this anymore. I can't let myself be lead on my false lies. I've been there for you, and you can't do the same. I'm sorry. I need to take care of myself.
”
”
Zoe Santana
“
The clouds smothered the burgeoning sunlight again, but she left the glasses on. Annoying, that’s what these transitional months were. She wanted it to be one or the other, warm or cold, sunny or cloudy. Fitz
”
”
J.T. Ellison (Judas Kiss (Taylor Jackson #3))
“
He was sunny days and sunshine and rainbows, and I was the rain. Rainy days and cloudy skies and lightning.
He was the sun; beaming and substantially bright, and warmth, as we knew, encompassed him. And I was the rain; my anger could be defined as stormy, and I was a walking rain cloud, full of gloom. My mind was always cloudy, and I found myself always crying and teary-eyed, which was, in my life, symbolizing the rain free-falling from the sky and into my heart. My heart was frozen, and it was so, so cold; as cold as the chilly air. Oh, God. I was the rain.
”
”
Braelyn Wilson (Counting Stars)
“
I was rain, not only to myself, but to Caspian Marks, too.
I wasn’t the kind of gloomy rain that was unwanted and unappreciated, though. Not to him. I was the kind that was necessary when you felt shriveled and dry; in need of something to give you energy and strength to lighten and flourish again. The kind that was like a breath of fresh air. The kind of rain that after, created rainbows. The kind of rain that was crucial—absolutely crucial—in romance movies when the most dramatic kiss of the century was cued to happen.
I was Caspian Mark’s rain. I gave him energy and I revived him. I gave him air to breathe. My coldness reminded him that life was not always sunny or ideal, but would still be good, anyway. The rain, I suppose I was.
”
”
Braelyn Wilson (Counting Stars)
“
Waterfalls"
A lonely mother gazing out of her window
Staring at a son that she just can't touch
If at any time he's in a jam she'll be by his side
But he doesn't realize he hurts her so much
But all the praying just ain't helping at all
'Cause he can't seem to keep his self out of trouble
So he goes out and he makes his money the best way he knows how
Another body laying cold in the gutter
Listen to me
[Chorus:]
Don't go chasing waterfalls
Please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you're used to
I know that you're gonna have it your way or nothing at all
But I think you're moving too fast
Little precious has a natural obsession
For temptation but he just can't see
She gives him loving that his body can't handle
But all he can say is "Baby, it's good to me."
One day he goes and takes a glimpse in the mirror
But he doesn't recognize his own face
His health is fading and he doesn't know why
Three letters took him to his final resting place
Y'all don't hear me
[Chorus (2x)]
Come on
I seen a rainbow yesterday
But too many storms have come and gone
Leavin' a trace of not one God-given ray
Is it because my life is ten shades of gray
I pray all ten fade away
Seldom praise Him for the sunny days
And like His promise is true
Only my faith can undo
The many chances I blew
To bring my life to anew
Clear blue and unconditional skies
Have dried the tears from my eyes
No more lonely cries
My only bleedin' hope
Is for the folk who can't cope
With such an endurin' pain
That it keeps 'em in the pourin' rain
Who's to blame
For tootin' 'caine into your own vein
What a shame
You shoot and aim for someone else's brain
You claim the insane
And name this day in time
For fallin' prey to crime
I say the system got you victim to your own mind
Dreams are hopeless aspirations
In hopes of comin' true
Believe in yourself
The rest is up to me and you
[Chorus (2x)]
”
”
TLC
“
She left WCF and stepped into the still, chilly air. She loved walking and didn’t even mind the cold that much—though she still missed sunny, temperate So-Cal.
”
”
Allison Brennan (Love Me to Death (Lucy Kincaid, #1))
“
The Connecticut River
March 2, 1704
Temperature 10 degrees
“Oh, Eben!” breathed Mercy, thrilled and astonished. “Guess what?”
The glare off the ice was bothering him, and as the temperature rose, the snow on the frozen river was turning to slush. His moccasins were soaked and his feet were so cold he could hardly bear the pressure of each step. “What?”
“I can figure out Mohawk words, Eben!” she said excitedly. “Sun was one of the first words Tannhahorens taught us. And we learned to count, so I know the number two. Thorakwaneken means ‘Two Suns.’ Your master’s name is Two Suns! And cold--that’s the word we use most. Eunice’s master is Cold Sun.” She turned her own sunny smile on him.
Eben was unsettled by how proud she was. He did not want to compliment her. Uneasily, he said, “What does Tannhahorens mean?”
“I haven’t figured that out. He’s told me, but I can’t piece together whatever he’s saying. I don’t know what Munnonock means either.”
Mercy darted across the slush to her Indian master, and although they were too far away for Eben to hear, he knew she was asking Tannhahorens to explain again the meaning of his name and hers.
He knew, everyone on the frontier knew, how quickly captive English children slid into being Indians, but he had not thought he would witness it in a week. He had thought it would be three-year-olds, like Daniel, or seven-year-olds, like Eunice.
But it was Mercy.
Ruth walked next to Eben. For once their horror was equal.
A mile or so of silence, and then Ruth spoke. “The Indians have a sacred leader. Their powwow. He has a ceremony by which all white blood is removed. They say it is a wondrous thing and never fails.”
They walked on. The temperature had dropped again and each of Eben’s moccasins was solid with ice. Every time he set his foot down, he stuck to the congealing slick of the river and had to tear himself free. Soon the moccasins would be destroyed and he would be barefoot.
“I know now why it never fails,” said Ruth. “The children arrive at the ceremony ready to be Indian.
”
”
Caroline B. Cooney (The Ransom of Mercy Carter)
“
The day was cold but sunny. The city was decorated with holiday flags.
”
”
Sergei Dovlatov (The Suitcase)
“
The Syrian crisis comprises five different conflicts that cross-infect and exacerbate each other. The war commenced with a genuine popular revolt against a brutal and corrupt dictatorship, but it soon became intertwined with the struggle of the Sunni against the Alawites, and that fed into the Shia-Sunni conflict in the region as a whole, with a standoff between the US, Saudi Arabia, and the Sunni states on the one side and Iran, Iraq, and the Lebanese Shia on the other. In addition to this, there is a revived cold war between Moscow and the West, exacerbated by the conflict in Libya and more recently made even worse by the crisis in the Ukraine.
”
”
Patrick Cockburn (The Rise of Islamic State: ISIS and the New Sunni Revolution)
“
Luckily, many ghosts prefer the night time but then those who lived to wake up at the crack of dawn never get the message that ghosts are for the night, or at least the evening! Nearly a non-zombie by the end of the walk. Helps if it’s a cold day, or a very sunny one, to wake me up!
”
”
L.P. Donnelli (Dead Diary)
“
You don’t care if it’s cold and raining or warm and sunny 10,000 miles away because it’s not your weather. The same detachment should apply to your 401(k) investments until you approach retirement. Even
”
”
Burton G. Malkiel (The Elements of Investing: Easy Lessons for Every Investor)
“
northern New Jersey, April can either be awash with daffodils or buried under a foot of snow, and waiting to see which way it will go kills me. I hate the April version of winter—some days, that nip of spring teases the air and gets you thinking about warm sunshine, but mostly it’s just cold enough to be miserable. The snow turns black and ugly in about six minutes, and the salt used on the roads gets in between the pads of my dog’s feet. Ever try washing the feet of a sixty-pound lump of wet fur? Whimpering, quivering wet fur? No fun at all. On the flip side, what if it does get warm and sunny right away? That whole process of morphing out of winter woolies and sweaters and scarves
”
”
Dee Ernst (Better Off Without Him)
“
During the Crusades, when Christians were in the mood to slaughter infidels, they were very cognizant of God’s sanctioning faith-based mass murder in parts of the Bible. During the Cold War, when the United States was part of an international multifaith alliance that included Muslim and Buddhist nations, this motif was played down; whole generations of American Christians were weaned on a misleadingly sunny selection of Bible stories.
”
”
Robert Wright (The Evolution of God)
“
As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.” —Genesis 8:22 (NIV) As I walked to my mom’s house next door, I looked at the silhouettes of birds in the trees with the sun setting behind them. The road was still warm beneath my bare feet, and my leg muscles were tired from hours spent doing yard work and clearing the garden for winter (or “putting it to bed” as my husband calls it). Blackbirds rested on the stark branches, watching me until I was just beneath them, and then they flew away in a rush of energy. Today was warm. The sun bright. Most of our trees have lost their leaves, but our maple by the barn was holding on, wearing its marvelous colors like an ornate cloak. “Sabra, put shoes on!” the neighbor shouted from her doorway. “It’s nearly winter, don’t you know?” This is our joke. Every season she notices my feet and my tendency to be barefoot as long as possible. In March she calls out, “It must be spring! You don’t have shoes on!” And then when the snow falls, she yells, “Oh no, look at those boots! We must be in for a long winter.” With each step, I feel the warm tarry road beneath my feet. In a week or two, I’ll be wearing big thick socks and warm shoes. For now, I take in the beauty of a sunny path and hold it as a gift to help me through the long winter ahead. Dear Lord, may I always be mindful of the beauty in every season You have placed beneath my feet. —Sabra Ciancanelli Digging Deeper: Ps 19:1; Eccl 3:1–4
”
”
Guideposts (Daily Guideposts 2014)
“
Shaw’s shed sits on a large lazy Susan. Shaw could push against the building to turn it as the sun moved, allowing for passive solar heating and cooling—more light on cold, dark days, and less on hot, sunny days—plus a little exercise.
”
”
Jane Mount (Bibliophile: An Illustrated Miscellany)
“
Outside it was a bright fall day. The kind that tricks you into thinking it’s warmer out than it is because it’s so sunny.
”
”
Sofia T. Romero (We Have Always Been Who We Are)
“
Kettle or desi?’ I ask. Different occasions call for different types of tea. Standard tea – a teabag and boiling water – is for when you’re in a rush or feeling lazy, and desi is for cold mornings and chilly autumn days like today when only a mug of strong, peppery tea will do.
”
”
Sukh Ojla (Sunny: Heartwarming and utterly relatable - the dazzling debut novel by comedian, writer and actor Sukh Ojla)
“
sip my ice-cold drink and bask in the double-barreled serotonin coursing through me. Is there anything better than iced coffee and a bookstore on a sunny day? I mean, aside from hot coffee and a bookstore on a rainy day.
”
”
Emily Henry (Book Lovers)
“
Likewise, unless you live close to the equator, you will have different seasons. Surely, for many it is nicer when it is hot and sunny than when it is cold and wet. Still, you learn to cope with it. If the weather causes a bad mood in you, of course this is not the fault of the whether, but an indication that you need to deepen your roots within to become more stable and centered.
”
”
M. Rafat (Inside the Pain-Body - Dissolving Painful Emotions in Relationships)
“
Sunny sweet morning.
Butterfly flies with colorful wings.
The melodious chirping of the dove bird.
Asian pigeonwings (Clitoria ternatea) staring steadily.
The intoxicating scent of wild white sandalwood.
With the gentle touch of Catkin, the life of eighteen year old girl is exhilarating.
Close conversation of the swan couple in the clear water lake.
The charming freshness of living aloe vera.
White cotton clouds blend into the bluey of the Autumn sky.
The nectarine taste of the juicy kernel (core) of cane fruit.
Fascinated by the extraordinary beauty of nature.
Who doesn’t like it?
However, sometimes nature is reckless or indifferent.
The appearance of the storm at the moment.
A warning signal!
Surrounded by pitch black darkness.
Dusty, stormy cold wind.
The brutal rampage of the storm.
The terrible power of ferocious thunderbolt.
The spleen was surprised.
Chases the fear of death.
Infinite love for life.
Nevertheless, man is helpless to nature.
A strong desire to live.
Pray to creator with a humble heart.
Forgive, protect.
Oh great Lord— give peace.
Only you are our protector.
The controller of this universe.
Nature is calm.
This is an eternal example of the immeasurable power of the great creator.
In this carrying lifetime man is busy like in their own way.
When the color of the sky changes— no one knows.
Similarly, when the change happens in human mind— he himself does not know.
”
”
Muhammad Ashraful Alam
“
Indweller
(He who resides in the heart and knows all the things of the mind and controls everything.)
—————————————————————————
Sunny sweet morning.
Butterfly flies with colorful wings.
The melodious chirping of the dove bird.
Asian pigeonwings (Clitoria ternatea) staring steadily.
The intoxicating scent of wild white sandalwood.
With the gentle touch of Catkin, the life of eighteen year old girl is exhilarating.
Close conversation of the swan couple in the clear water lake.
The charming freshness of living aloe vera.
White cotton clouds blend into the bluey of the Autumn sky.
The nectarine taste of the juicy kernel (core) of cane fruit.
Fascinated by the extraordinary beauty of nature.
Who doesn’t like it?
However, sometimes nature is reckless or indifferent.
The appearance of the storm at the moment.
A warning signal!
Surrounded by pitch black darkness.
Dusty, stormy cold wind.
The brutal rampage of the storm.
The terrible power of ferocious thunderbolt.
The spleen was startled.
Chases the fear of death.
Infinite love for life.
Nevertheless, man is helpless to nature.
A strong desire to live.
Pray to creator with a humble heart.
Forgive, protect.
Oh great Lord— give peace.
Only you are our protector.
The controller of this universe.
Nature is calm.
This is an eternal example of the immeasurable power of the great creator.
In this carrying lifetime man is busy like in their own way.
When the color of the sky changes— no one knows.
Similarly, when the change happens in human mind— he himself does not know.
”
”
Muhammad Ashraful Alam
“
Fire And Rain"
Just yesterday morning, they let me know you were gone.
Suzanne, the plans they made put an end to you.
I walked out this morning and I wrote down this song,
I just can't remember who to send it to.
I've seen fire and I've seen rain. I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end.
I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend, but I always thought that I'd see you again.
Won't you look down upon me, Jesus, You've got to help me make a stand.
You've just got to see me through another day.
My body's aching and my time is at hand and I won't make it any other way.
Oh, I've seen fire and I've seen rain. I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end.
I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend, but I always thought that I'd see you again.
Been walking my mind to an easy time, my back turned towards the sun.
Lord knows when the cold wind blows it'll turn your head around.
Well, there's hours of time on the telephone line to talk about things to come.
Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground.
Oh, I've seen fire and I've seen rain. I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end.
I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend,
but I always thought that I'd see you baby, one more time again, now.
Thought I'd see you one more time again.
There's just a few things coming my way this time around, now.
Thought I'd see you, thought I'd see you, fire and rain, now.
James Taylor, Sweet Baby James (1970)
”
”
James Taylor
“
We all look at one another and it's a buzzing, alive kind of silence. We are not hiding in the dark under masks. We are on a busy intersection, on a sunny morning, the cold November air whipping our hair, and we are about to get loud.
”
”
Emma Kress
“
Familiar songbirds reappear, perched high above the stark white landscape in those final frigid days of February and March. Their long-awaited songs announce a return to sunny days, with nights still cold enough to freeze in that delicate balance of those elusive few weeks when the sap will run.
”
”
Arlene Stafford-Wilson (Lanark County Kitchen: A Maple Legacy from Tree to Table)
“
Conjunctivitis: Types, Symptoms, Prevention & Treatment
Conjunctivitis, eye flu or pink eye, is an inflammation of the conjunctiva. The conjunctiva is a transparent membrane covering the eyelid and a part of the eye. Usually, eye flu is caused in the monsoon season by viruses, bacteria, allergies, or other irritants. According to Dr Sunny Narula, MBBS, MD, Consultant- Paediatrician and Neonatologist, eye flu is very common in children during the monsoon. Moreover, in the past few weeks, there has also been a spike in the eye flu cases. Hence, you must take necessary precautions to prevent this from spreading. If you notice any symptoms, visit the best pediatricians in Chandigarh for consultation at the earliest.
What are the Symptoms of Eye Flu?
The most common symptom of eye flu is redness or inflammation of the eye. Other symptoms include:
Itching or burning sensation in the eye.
Watering of the eyes.
Sensitivity to light.
Discharge from eyes.
Sticking of eyelids together.
What are the Types of Conjunctivitis?
The best child specialist doctor in Mohali tells us that there are 3 main types of conjunctivitis:
1.Viral Conjunctivitis
This type is caused by a viral infection including cold or flu. It is highly contagious and lasts up to 2 weeks.
2.Bacterial Conjunctivitis
This type is caused by a bacterial infection. Bacterial conjunctivitis can also cause yellowish-green discharge from the eye.
3.Allergic Conjunctivitis
This type is caused by allergens including pollen or pet dander. It can occur any time of the year and is usually less contagious.
How to Prevent Conjunctivitis?
Conjunctivitis can be prevented by taking the following measures:
Wash your hands frequently, especially before touching your eyes.
Avoid sharing pillows, towels, or other personal items.
Avoid touching your eyes with your hands.
Practice good hygiene, especially during cold or flu season.
Use protective eyewear when swimming or doing any activity with the potential risk of eye exposure.
How to Treat Conjunctivitis?
If you suspect eye flu, the best paediatrician in Mohali recommends the following at-home care tips:
1.Practice Good Hand Hygiene:
The hands of your children can be a potential carrier of viruses or bacteria. Inculcate good hand hygiene habits in them. Wash their hands frequently. Avoid sharing towels, eye drops, or any other item that can spread infection.
2.Warm or Cold Compress:
Apply a clean, warm compress or ice packs to closed eyes as it helps in soothing eyes and reducing swelling. You can use a soft, lint-free cloth soaked in warm water and place it gently over the closed eyelids for a few minutes. Repeat as needed throughout the day.
3.Clean Eyeglasses:
If your child wears glasses, make sure to clean them with mild soap and water to remove any potential contamination.
4.Artificial Tears:
Over-the-counter lubricating eye drops called artificial teas in general can keep eyes moist and prevent irritation. Discuss this with your pediatrician and do not self-medicate.
5.Avoid Eye Touching or Rubbing:
Children can be easily frustrated with the constant eye irritation. They might find comfort in rubbing their eyes. This, however, can further irritate the conjunctiva and spread the infection to the other eye or other people around. Hence, make sure that your child does not touch the infected eye at all.
”
”
Dr. Sunny Narula
“
Endless Love!
A beautiful, young, mountain girl who loved the sea,
There she always longed to be,
She dreamt of someday marrying a mariner,
Then there would be just the sea and her sea smelling mariner,
Years passed by and she grew prettier,
And with every passing year her fondness for the sea grew deeper and deeper,
On one sunny summer day, she found her mariner,
She loved his smile, his curly hair, she loved him because he was just a mariner,
They hugged, they kissed and they smiled,
Life seemed perfect, as if exclusively for the two of them styled,
They got married in the midst of summer flowers, she and the sea smelling mariner,
Then both moved to live their lives together at the sea, the mountain girl and the mariner,
In the evening the mariner’s return from work brought with him the sweet smelling sea,
It was exactly the way the mountain girl always wanted it to be,
The sea, the open skies, the ever moving waves and the lap of the mariner,
Where she rested her head and smelled sea on the skin of the weary mariner,
Who was never tired of the sea but only sometimes tired at the sea,
For everyday it stared at him in million different ways and how he loved to see,
The sunset, the sprightly fish and the winding shadows of the toiling mariner,
Alas the mountain girl only fancied the sea and its traces in the mariner,
And gradually she grew tired of the sea and its every memory,
Of the mariner too, because he smelled of the sea and that left the mountain girl less merrier,
The mountain girl only fancied what she ought to have loved- the sea and the mariner,
For fascinations fade away, but the sea always stayed with the mariner,
Now the girl loved to hate the sea, and how she despised it!
And with it, the mariner too died at the sea, bit by bit. Everyday bit by bit,
For the mariner loved the mountain girl just like the sea - the poor mariner,
When he saw her love for the sea and him fading away it silently killed the mariner,
The vast sea is still there and so is the majestic mountain,
The girl has aged now and brimming with mariner’s love just like a perennial fountain,
So every night when the tide is high, the sea silently welcomes the still young but long dead mariner,
And his shadow gently descends upon the naked body of the time weary woman - the warm skin kissed by the cold shadow of the mariner,
Now she smells just the mariner who infact was the sea and he always wanted to be her vast and beautiful sea,
For this is who the mariner was and always wanted to be- the open and the endless sea,
Sea of endless love and hope for the mountain girl,
Where he would dive deep and retrieve only for her the rarest pearl,
For he loved her true and endlessly under the vast sky,
Alas the mountain girl took a while to realise that both the sea and the mountain shall always lie under the blue and sometimes dark sky,
The dead mariner still loves to spread his shadow over her skin by and by,
And silently whisper to her, “I love you more than the sea, the mountains and the never ending sky!
”
”
Javid Ahmad Tak (They Loved in 2075!)
“
I didn’t answer. I was caught up once more by the fantastic notion that one of these people was a dangerous and cold-blooded murderer. Somehow, on this beautiful still sunny morning it seemed impossible.
”
”
Agatha Christie (Murder in Mesopotamia (Hercule Poirot, #14))
“
background, someone was scraping ice off their windscreen. He preferred it like this — cold and sunny — to the dreary rain-drenched few months they’d had. Christmas had seen one of the worst
”
”
Biba Pearce (Detective Rob Miller Books 1-3: The Thames Path Killer / The West London Murders / The Bisley Wood Murders (Detective Rob Miller #1-3))
“
I had a dream where I was in a place that served steak and mashed potatoes and the soup! The pasta soup was heavenly even better than my mother’s homemade recipe. Every spoonful of the soup reminded me of the sun. The mashed potatoes were so smooth that they could slide down my gullet. The steak was medium-rare, my favorite, and every bite reminded me of the steak my mom made but it was one hundred and one times better. And there was also iced tea and every sip of it felt refreshing like a cold, winter morning with the sun shining merrily and my mom and I throwing snowballs at each other. I ate and drank until I could eat no more. I felt as if my stomach was about to combust. But then in came the tiramisu. It was better than anything I had ever tasted. The rich smell of coffee wafted up from it. It reminded me of the coffee shop my mom went to when I was little. Despite the fact that my stomach was about to explode I managed to fit in three more slices of tiramisu before I could eat no more. But then came the Ice cream. It was my favorite flavor, mango. The ice cream was silky and sweet. It was like I was on a sunny June morning, a ray of sunlight shining in my face. The sensation intensified as mango juice dribbled down my chin like sunlight itself. I managed six scoops before I was sure my belly would explode. Every moment of eating the ice cream was sunsational. Finally came the float. It was vanilla ice cream on top of some Fanta even though my mom insisted root beer was one hundred times better. It tasted amazing. It was like the early spring making our ice crack in the pond on which my mother and I go ice skating every winter. It was happy but also sad at the same time as if my old life called back for me.
”
”
Zining Fan (The Fall of Naquinn)
“
idea what Glory was planning and no way to know if Burn would receive them with open wings. Not to mention Sunny could probably use that mirror herself. She reached out again and noticed the trembling that shuddered through Preyhunter’s scales. Maybe he wasn’t cold. Maybe it was a nightmare. Maybe he’s dreaming about the terrible things he’s done. Or perhaps he’s dreaming about the volcano exploding. She hesitated, and then unfolded one of her wings, spreading it gently over his back. She was too small to cover him completely, but the warmth that radiated from her scales spread as far over him as she could reach. She held her breath, trying not to touch him. Preyhunter let out a long, shuddering sigh, and then the shivering stopped. He took another deep breath, and Sunny saw the tension in his snout,
”
”
Tui T. Sutherland (The Brightest Night (Wings of Fire, #5))
“
Good luck, Sheriff Brady,” Hadlock whispered back. “Our guys are on their way, but I’ll be holding my breath.” Me, too, Joanna thought. The April air was sunny but cool. Still, Joanna felt cold sweat forming between her shoulder blades and under her arms, soaking through the khaki uniform. It dripped down her forehead and dribbled past her eyes. If there were any predators in the area other than James Gunnar Cameron, Joanna was sure they could smell the fear Joanna’s body shed with every careful step.
”
”
J.A. Jance (Judgment Call (Joanna Brady #15))
“
Slowly England's sun was setting o'er the hilltops far away,
Filling all the land with beauty at the close of one sad day;
And its last rays kissed the forehead of a man and maiden fair―
He with steps so slow and weary; she with sunny, floating hair;
He with bowed head, sad and thoughtful, she, with lips all cold and white,
Struggling to keep back the murmur, 'Curfew must not ring tonight!'
'Sexton,' Bessie's white lips faltered, pointing to the prison old,
With its walls tall and gloomy, moss-grown walls dark, damp and cold ―
'I've a lover in the prison, doomed this very night to die
At the ringing of the curfew, and no earthly help is nigh.
Cromwell will not come till sunset;' and her lips grew strangely white,
As she spoke in husky whispers, 'Curfew must not ring tonight!
”
”
Rose Hartwick Thorpe
“
O’er the earth there comes a bloom;
Sunny light for sullen gloom;
Warm perfume for vapor cold—
I smell the rose above the mold! —Thomas Hood
”
”
V.C. Andrews (Petals on the Wind (Dollanganger, #2))
“
It was sunny and cold outside, the kind of morning that autumn did best.
”
”
Emma Newman (All Is Fair (The Split Worlds, #3))
“
Bury me on a sunny morning, So that none following my ragged cortège Shall suffer wind, or squall, or rain … And get a beastly cold. ALBERT GLATIGNY
”
”
George Bellairs (Outrage on Gallows Hill (Thomas Littlejohn #13))
“
night. She was taking more of an interest in things and her appetite had improved with the result that she was looking much better. She had persuaded both girls to go out for a walk. It was cold but bright and sunny. ‘It will do you both good. You don’t
”
”
Lyn Andrews (To Love and to Cherish)