Stephens’ “Book of the Farm” (1840) says “Winter is the especial
season of man – our own season. It is the intellectual season
during which the spirit of man enables him most to triumphantly
display his superiority over the beasts each day that perish.”
In winter, the countryman plays a conqueror who sets forth each
day to battle the elements, and winning, returns to the rewards
of his harvests. It’s a daily game, beyond the ken of the city-
dweller whose comings and goings lack the flavor of make-
believe. The coming of winter in the old days was heralded by a
“banking-up season,” when the north sides of houses and barns
were stacked with proper insulation. Corn stalks, hay, leaves,
or sawdust shouldered the base of the farmhouse against winter’s
blast; cow dung did the job at the barn. The first of December
was Sled Day wherever winter and snow were synonymous; that was
the day when sleds of all sorts were readied and sleigh bells
were made to shine. Just over sixty years ago there were real
sounds to winter: