Light Snow Rediscovered

November 22 - December 6

This reflective episode features an interview with special guest Lev Parikian, author of the book “Light Rains Sometimes Fall.” Alexis and Kit share Thanksgiving memories and mouthwatering recipes as they welcome in a flamboyantly festive time of year. Hiro’s Corner takes a look at the coats that warm us in winter.

Listen and subscribe on Apple and Spotify.

Light Snow Spotify Companion Playlist

Poems Featured in this Podcast

For Every Star, by Annette Wynne

For every star a million fell—I found them all around,
On road and window-sill and fence, on roof and tree and ground;
I walked quite carefully at first to save the stars below,
But soon so many tramped about
They put the little stars all out
And now it's only snow!

***

The year has turned its circle,
The seasons come and go.
The harvest all is gathered in
And chilly north winds blow.
Orchards have shared their treasures,
The fields, their yellow grain,
So open wide the doorway—
Thanksgiving comes again!

— Anonymous

***

Burning leaves--
sweet potatoes wrapped
in black paper

— Kobayashi Issa

***

The leaves are falling
Just enough to make a fire―
A gift of the wind!

— Ryokan

***

Autumn is leaving . . .
the sweet chestnut burr
opens its hands

— Matsuo Basho

***

First the mornings,
Then the days
Grow cool and crisp
The air begins to change.

The smell of smoke, wood fires, and leaves
Leaves that run and chase and whirl
The wax from green to gold to hues of red
Wind comes wild through boughs of trees,
Frantic spirit, a lost child,
A burst of life and vigor before the coming snows.

Horses huddle, slow and gentle
And shiver in the field
Begin to ache, the old man’s bones

Near the hearth, warmth rekindled
Fall’s first fire, where children gather
Watch the blaze and hear the crackle
Smell the sap of burning fir and maple

The mother bakes and watches
How soft and quiet they sit and whisper
Wind wails mournful upon the glass

So comes autumn to light the warmth of hearts within,
While out the days grow cold and dim

— Nathan Freeman

***

Forgive and Forget by Charles Swain

Forgive and forget! why the world would be lonely,
The garden a wilderness left to deform,
If the flowers but remembered the chilling winds only,
And the fields gave no verdure for fear of the storm!
Oh! still in thy loveliness emblem the flower,
Give the fragrance of feeling to sweeten life's way;
And prolong not again the brief cloud of an hour,
With tears that but darken the rest of the day!

***

A Thanksgiving Dinner, by Maude M. Grant

Take a turkey, stuff it fat,
Some of this and some of that.
Get some turnips, peel them well.
Cook a big squash in its shell.

Now potatoes, big and white,
Mash till they are soft and light.
Cranberries, so tart and sweet,
With the turkey we must eat.

Pickles-yes-and then, oh my!
For a dessert a pumpkin pie,
Golden brown and spicy sweet.
What a fine Thanksgiving treat!

***

First snowfall -
a nuisance
by evening

— Kobayashi Issa

***

Flour of England, Fruit of Spain
Met together in shower and rain
Put in a bag tied round with a string
If you’ll tell me this riddle, I’ll give you a ring

— Traditional

***

Little Jack Horner
Sat in the corner,
Eating a Christmas pie;
He put in his thumb,
And pulled out a plum,
And said, "What a good boy am I!"

— Traditional

***

Thanksgiving Turkey (excerpt), by George Parsons Lathrop

Welcome, brothers—all our party
Gathered in the homestead old!
Shake the snow off and with hearty
Hand-shakes drive away the cold;
Else your plate you'll hardly hold
Of good Thanksgiving turkey.

When the skies are sad and murky,
'Tis a cheerful thing to meet
Round this homely roast of turkey—
Pilgrims, pausing just to greet,
Then, with earnest grace, to eat
A new Thanksgiving turkey.

And the merry feast is freighted
With its meanings true and deep.
Those we've loved and those we've hated,
All, to-day, the rite will keep,
All, to-day, their dishes heap
With plump Thanksgiving turkey.

***

[little tree] by e. e. cummings

little tree
little silent Christmas tree
you are so little
you are more like a flower

who found you in the green forest
and were you very sorry to come away?
see i will comfort you
because you smell so sweetly

i will kiss your cool bark
and hug you safe and tight
just as your mother would,
only don't be afraid

look the spangles
that sleep all the year in a dark box
dreaming of being taken out and allowed to shine,
the balls the chains red and gold the fluffy threads,

put up your little arms
and i'll give them all to you to hold
every finger shall have its ring
and there won't be a single place dark or unhappy

then when you're quite dressed
you'll stand in the window for everyone to see
and how they'll stare!
oh but you'll be very proud

and my little sister and i will take hands
and looking up at our beautiful tree
we'll dance and sing
"Noel Noel"

***

If I can stop one heart from breaking, by Emily Dickinson

If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.

Special Guest

Lev Parikian is a writer, birdwatcher and conductor. He is the author of Why Do Birds Suddenly Disappear?, Music To Eat Cake By, Waving Not Drowning, Light Rains Sometimes Fall, and Into The Tangled Bank, which was longlisted for the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing in 2021. He lives in South London with his wife, son, cat, and four pairs of binoculars.

About Light Rains Sometimes Fall

See the British year afresh and experience a new way of connecting with nature – through the prism of Japan’s seventy-two ancient microseasons.

Across seventy-two short chapters and twelve months, writer and nature lover Lev Parikian charts the changes that each of these ancient microseasons (of a just a few days each) bring to his local patch – garden, streets, park and wild cemetery.

From the birth of spring (risshun) in early February to ‘the greater cold’ (daikan) in late January, Lev draws our eye to the exquisite beauty of the outside world, day-to-day.

Instead of Japan’s lotus blossom, praying mantis and bear, he watches bramble, woodlouse and urban fox; hawthorn, dragonfly and peregrine. But the seasonal rhythms – and the power of nature to reflect and enhance our mood – remain.

By turns reflective, witty and joyous, this is both a nature diary and a revelation of the beauty of the small and subtle changes of the everyday, allowing us to ‘look, look again, look better’.

It is perfect gift to read in real time across the British year.

Learn more and purchase.

Order through Blackwell’s (recommended for US customers).

Musicians & Music Featured this Episode

Zachary and Larry Piper
2 Elegiac Melodies, Op. 34 - 2. Last Spring - Letzter Fruhling (Recorder ensemble - Papalin)
25 Norwegian Folk Songs and Dances, Op. 17 - 24. Wedding Tune - Brulaatten (For Recorder Ensemble - Papalin)
Brahms - Clarinet_Quintet 2. Adagio
Brahms - Intermezzo, Op. 117, No. 1