This is a good night to read “Snow-Bound,” a long poem by John Greenleaf Whittier, published in 1866. The poem is about a farm family stuck inside their house as a December blizzard roars outside. The family sits around the fire telling stories. The local teacher, who boards with the family, is also a participant.
The next day the boys have to dig a path to the barn to feed the animals, and days later a group of neighbors opens the road. Even when Whittier wrote the poem, that way of life was changing, but you can still get a sense of the blizzard if you just step outside tonight for a few minutes.
(The poem is available on the internet thanks to the Poetry Foundation.)
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