WINTER'S DISSONANT SYMPHONY

WINTER RETURNS (if it ever left)

STORED BOATS AT THE CITY MARINA 

Wednesday, 7:45 AM.  35 degrees F, wind NE, variable with moderate gusts.  The sky is overcast and it has been raining, now lightly, with an accumulation of precipitates of about .5".  The humidity is up to 96% and the barometer is trending down, now at 29.7".
   Winter returned, if it had ever left, precisely at noon yesterday.  I was trimming roses and Hydrangeas in the yard when my ears were assaulted by a harsh, roaring noise that I vaguely recognized but could not place, that was much louder than the noon whistle.  At the same time it began to snow very hard, quickly becoming a real blizzard.  I put my tools away in disgust, and decided to find the source of the continuing cacophony.
   I stopped at the post office to get the mail, where the roaring sound was louder still and seemed to emanate from the City Marina.  Heading again, with the window down,  towards the roaring, shrieking, clanking noise, I arrived at the boat storage area of the marina, whence a mighty din arose from the east wind roaring through the masts and rigging of the boats, the taught lines shrieking like out of tune violin strings and the rigging fittings clanging like unruly cymbals as they banged against the masts.
   It's an ill wind indeed that creates such a dissonant symphony.