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Winter

It was cold and long but it brought magic and the children loved it

Fifty years ago winter was still pretty much the season of discontent. Time out of mind poets had abused and libeled it. They said that winter brought snarling gusts to nibble the juiceless leaves. They charged that plague and pestilence came with it. Every mile was two in winter. It tamed man, woman and beast. He who passed a winter’s day escaped an enemy. A sad tale was best for winter.
For Americans of all ages who are disappointed by today’s mild winters, when a fall of snow turns to slush overnight or is shunted aside by the relentless plow, here is Roxbury, Massachusetts, a century ago, just after a “regular built, old fashioned snow storm.” Past the Norfo

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