This word of the week instalment is long overdue, but here it comes with the force of the southerly winter winds that have been rattling our windows and bones these past days. What's more apt than to pay some tribute to the change in seasons, our marker of time and the natural space we live in?
Kogarashi
γγγγ
cold, wintry wind
Kogarashi is “the cold wind that lets us know the arrival of winter.” I feel this wind right now, beating the walls and windows and roof of our house, while I'm trying to write. “Brace yourselves, winter is coming.” (Ok, this might read out of kilter for those readers of this blog, who happen to live in the northern hemisphere!). But here, in Down Under, we are feeling it!
Winter winds are often mentioned in literary works. They set the mood and tone of a story or a scene, and often dwarf us humans into insignificant specs on Earth. So many good poems and stories have conceptualise Kogarashi. Think of haiku master Basho's winter haiku poems, or 'Winter Wind' (from Something I've been Meaning To Tell You), by short story queen, Alice Munro.
Sometimes, wintry winds play a role as protagonist or a character in a story. Sometimes Kogarashi is the concept that even becomes the title of books like the long awaited The Winds of Winter, which is the planned sixth novel in the epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire (that's the series written by American writer George R.R. Martin, and which is the story of the TV smash hit, Games of Thrones, for those of us who live under a rockπ).
Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
I hope you stay warm, wherever you are! To end this post with a quote:
"A cold wind was blowing from the north, and it made the trees rustle like living things." (George R.R. Martin)
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What wintry wind stories have you read? Let me know below in comments!
