On December 21 – just as winter was icumen in -- we ended our last theme with the counterpart of the word 'hiberate''. What better time to start a theme of winter-words?

hibernal – characteristic of or relating to winter

What looked like snow on the Coast Ranges was actually almond blossom. Disorienting though this hibernal fecundity was to a midwesterner (he had just endured the worst winter in Iowan history), the Pacific Ocean was even more so. The farther south he got, the hotter the light and the whiter the foam. This was February?
– Edmund Morris (Pulitzer-winning biographer), Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan

The perfect word for today! The snow, freezing rain, etc, are so bad that even the public library is closed. Sigh. What will all the people do without their library?

I've always preferred hiemal to hibernal, but anyway you dice it up, I love winter. The gray, brooding sky, with its even, unharsh lighting. Latin hiems 'winter' is related to Greek khimaira 'a young she-goat; a fire-breathing monster' and Sanskrit hima 'snow' (as in Himalaya); all from PIE *ghei- 'winter'.

quote:

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I love winter.

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And this from someone living in California!

Right after I'd posted my previous comment yesterday morning, the power went out in my neighborhood. It was still out at 5:00 pm when we finally left town (packing clothes with flashlights and wrapping presents by the same).

I am now 3 1/2 hours away, and don't know if we have power yet or not. We left our faucets all dripping slowly in hopes that the pipes won't freeze.

I don't like winter much, at the moment.

And this from someone living in California!

I admit that I like California winters most of all, but I have lived in other places: e.g., Denio, NV, and Bonn, Germany. When I moved to Bonn, I did so during the worst winter they had experienced in 40 years (1985). I could remember the looks I got from telling folks that I had moved from the California, but I did love the snow in both Nevada and Germany. I do remember the arrival of spring in Bonn, though. Suddenly, I understood what all that European poetry about spring meant. I have experienced 50 degrees Celsius as well as -25, and must say that I enjoyed the latter better.

As a child, growing up on a ranch, the power often went out during the winter, and sometimes stayed off for three or four days at a time. We were just prepared. We had gasoline generators, a wood burning fireplace, a propane stove, and kerosene lamps. Of course, I when I finally got computer equipment I started to not enjoy the blackouts as much.

Quote "...We left our faucets all dripping slowly in hopes that the pipes won't freeze..."

Not a good move! Even if this ploy prevents the supply pipes from freezing (unlikely), it will make quite sure that the waste pipes (normally empty), will freeze since your dripping faucet will ensure that there is now water there to freeze!

Best bet, turn off your water and leave your heating on very low.

Quote "...Suddenly, I understood what all that European poetry about spring meant..."

I can think of no nicer place to be than in England in springtime.

boreal – of the north; of or like the north wind
[Boreas, god of the North Wind in Greek mythology]

In order for any Sibelius performance to reach a level of excellence, it must display equal measures of boreal iciness and dreamy northern vistas. It helps, I suppose, that the music here, is played by a Finnish conductor and an Icelandic orchestra. The cold is probably in their bones.
– John Puccio, reviewing a sound recording in Sensible Sound, August, 2001

Walrus hunters, it turns out, treasure the half-digested oysters in the beast's stomach, which are a traditional delicacy -- a sort of boreal ceviche.
– Paul Rauber, On top of the world - trip to Baffin Island in Canada's far north, cover story, Sierra, March 1, 1998

Bonus word:
ceviche – a Peruvian dish of raw fish marinated in lemon juice with onions, chilis and seasonings, served especially as an appetizer

been

quote:

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Best bet, turn off your water and leave your heating on very low.

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but there is no heat - that's the point

algid – cold; chilly [much of its usage is metaphoric]
It may be that this pertains not so much to the environmentbeing cold as to a person's feeling of cold. Thus, the noun forms are both medical terms:
. . . .algidity – chilliness; coldness; esp. coldness and collapse
. . . .algor – a sensation of coldness; the shivering fit in fever

Memories and impressions merged as he scrubbed hoarfrost from a tiny slat of glass. Out there were nicks of distant light from the algid countryside, scraps of stiff paper twitching on railroad markers, pinioned there by the wind.
– Thomas H. Taylor, Behind Hitler's Lines

[Alexander Graham Bell and Gardiner Hubbard, his patron and future father-in-law:]
The incident would set the tone for the often wary Hubbard-Bell relationship, which would be severely tested over the years. The Hubbard women, caught between the impulsive Bell and the algid Hubbard, often soothed such rough passages.
– Robert M. Poole, Explorers House: National Geographic and the World It Made

"No question about her being decent. Perhaps it's not because of her virtue ... Maybe she's cold by nature. Cold as ice, feels no desire. There are women like that, beautiful statues, who do not know what desire is. Icebergs. There is no virtue in their chastity, nothing but frigidity. Cold as an iceberg, you can be sure of that. Marmoreal, algid, glacial."
– Jorge Amado, Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands

Bonus word:
marmoreal, marmorean – of or suggesting of marble
(The term can emphasize smoothness, whiteness, hardness or coldness.)

frore – (archaic) extremely cold; frosty.
[Mid. Eng., past part. of fresen, to freeze]

This is the winter of the world;--and here
We die, even as the winds of Autumn fade,
Expiring in the frore and foggy air.
Behold! Spring comes, though we must pass, who made
The promise of its birth,--even as a shade
– Shelley, The Revolt of Islam

rime – [adj: rimy] a coating of ice (or a like coating of something else: "a rime of fat globules in our mouths and stomachs" -- James Fallows)

Places in the trail where trecherous icefalls always develop over a few cold months were instead nice stairways of footprints in the snow. The summit was a white wonderland of rime-choked trees and incredible views.
– Ed Parsons, Conway (NH) Daily Sun, Dec. 17, 2004

Before long, we’ll be into the short winter days, a lukewarm sun brushing indifferently across the sky. Muddy, rime-covered cars, pale-faced children, the sweaty, fetid air of the supermarket check-outs, sore throats. But that’s how it is: who promised that life was going to be easy?
– Ilkka Malmberg, What Does Finland Really Look Like?, Helsingin (Helsinki) Sanomat, International Edition, Dec. 8, 2004