Books, Snow-Gauge Clif

Au Revoir, Snow-Gauge Clif

72 Comments

The title of this post tells it all. Today, March 11, our yard is officially free of snow, and there is nothing for Snow-Gauge Clif to measure. In the past, we would hope to be snow free by our youngest daughter’s birthday on April 22. Some years we were. Other years, we weren’t.  This year, we are way ahead of April 22.

First, the front yard, with Snow-Gauge Clif,

and a broader view to chronicle our snow-free yard.

To the backyard.

Therefore, unless we get some snow in March—and we could—it is time to say au revoir to Snow-Gauge Clif who was only with us for two weeks this year. What the heck! Can this really be happening in Maine? A snow-free yard in mid-March? It seems that it is.

Onward to yard work, usually an April chore.

*******************************************************************

Reading

Crewe Train by Rose Macaulay
Published in 1926

The story of a girl—who doesn’t like to read, doesn’t like art, doesn’t like theater, and is what we Franco-Americans would call lazy—is not a natural fit for me. And so it was with Denham Dobie, the protagonist in Crewe Train. My initial take on Denham was that she was a boring lump of a young woman, and I almost stopped reading the book after the first twenty pages.

But then something unexpected happened—Rose Macaulay’s writing and her sympathy for this unsociable, unambitious character won me over. By the end, I was as worried about Denham as I would be if she were a member of my own family. Well, all right. Maybe I’m overstating the case. Still, I brooded about Denham.

When the book opens, Denham is living in relative freedom with her father, also unsociable, in Andorra, a small country between Spain and France. When Denham’s father dies, Denham’s aunt—her mother’s sister—takes her back to England in the hopes of training her to be a proper young lady. But this is no Pygmalion story, and Denham is no Audrey Hepburn.

Initially, Denham does try to please her fashion-conscious aunt. She  falls in love with and marries a kind but conventional man named Arnold, who likes to mess about in boats and play games with Denham. But Arnold also likes London and books—he works as a publisher—and plays and dinner parties. He likes being around people, and Denham does not. For her small talk is a misery, and she would much rather be  rambling around outside.

Denham and Arnold are an odd, uneasy couple, and I wound up feeling sorry for both of them as they tried to accommodate each other’s opposing tastes.

I won’t reveal the ending except to note that the casual cruelty of Denham’s aunt sets in motion an unhappy chain of events. Crewe Train, while not a tragedy, is a sad book despite its flashes of humor.

One more thing to note: Crewe Train was published in 1926, and in my experience, writers of that time frequently included racist words and descriptions in their books. So it is with Crewe Train. Not the worst I’ve read—that honor goes to the otherwise delightful Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day—but not good all the same.

Nevertheless, Crewe Train is a book worth reading. Denham, for all her flaws, feels like a woman ahead her time, flailing as she tries to live on her own terms, unencumbered by possessions, free to wander the countryside, unconcerned with domestic duties.

All Denham wants is a simple life, not so easy for women of her class and generation in the 1920s.

 

72 thoughts on “Au Revoir, Snow-Gauge Clif”

  2. Wonderful, how great to have snow season gone. We get excited if it snows here because it is rare, pretty, and usually only lasts for a day at most! In the cities, it’s no fun because our cities aren’t used to it so we don’t have the snow ploughing and resources of eastern cities and everything comes to a halt, woe for anyone who can’t get off work.

  4. Such a strange, non-winter! I guess we just have to roll with it.
    So when is the patio furniture coming out? Time for Clif to fire up the grill for pizza! 🙂

  5. Wow, it feels strange to already say au revoir to Snow-gauge Clif and yet it’s also lovely to see the patio ready and waiting for the season’s first pizza party 💚

  7. El Nino is keeping guessing the world over. Here, I keep thinking, “That’s it! Summer’s over.” And then I’m back to sweltering again. I wonder whether Snow Gauge Clif may make another appearance before it’s all done and dusted.

  8. I don’t know if I like this or not. Something is very wrong for there to be no snow there, or here, in mid-March. I feel guilty enjoying the warm sunshine this afternoon.

  9. Gosh, that’s a big difference. I wonder how the plants will take to this? If the warming were not chastening, I imagine you’d be very happy to be snow free.

  11. Odd weather tends to alarm me these days, even thought I know it’s not necessarily a trend. You certainly have had a VERY odd winter. Good to see Clif being a good sport in the pictures. Very cute. And thanks for the book review!

    1. That’s for sure! Out today to start picking up sticks on the front lawn. First time I have ever done that in March. Clif is a good sport. I will pass on the compliment. Hope it doesn’t go to his head. 😉

  12. Nice book review! Thanks!! It’s nice to discover some hidden gem older authors. I read a lot of contemporary fiction, but just started “independent people” by Haldor laxness copyright, 1946.

  13. I can’t help but think of patio tables and drinks and snacks and friends. Not sure it’s time yet to move on, but maybe….

  14. When reading older books – your review is excellent – we need to bear in mind the context of the time in which they were written. Many words and phrases used then were not necessarily done so with mal-intent, but were in common use at the time. I have had to deal with this issue several times when teaching Olive Schreiner’s “A Story of an African Farm” – a great story but filled with terms we would regard as racist today and so difficult to deal with, especially in a multi-racial classroom. Anyhow, the story you have reviewed sounds an interesting one: a woman yearning for the freedom to be in a time when such freedom would be unheard of for her. I will look out for it.

    1. I agree, to a point. I guess you would call it casual racism, a reflection of societal values. Interestingly enough, this kind of racism pretty much vanishes in novels written after World War II, at least in England and the United States. I think the war was a terrible lesson about where such ideas led. Anyway, it seems to me that we have to shine a light on racist passages while also acknowledging what is good about the book.

  15. Same outdoor conditions here. We received 5″ of rain in five days. Mud season is definitely here. I had the yard free of branches and pine cones only to have the high winds brings more down yesterday. I’ll have something to do on the next warm day. 🙂

  16. I am pleased Clif himself is still with us. A very good review showing the benefit of early perseverance. I am struggling with what to do about such as Black Sambo when I review Vanity Fair.

    1. Thanks, Derrick. It is tricky. It seems to me that we have point it out, acknowledge it while also acknowledging what is good about the book. I have noticed that after World War II, the racist elements pretty much vanish from novels. I suppose that the war was a terrible example of what such ideas led to.

  17. I think it’s only right that you treat Snow-Gauge Clif to a couple of beers, or glasses of wine, or enormous slabs of cake (or maybe all of these!) to celebrate his efforts this year 🙂. He needs to start building up his strength for next winter, which is sure to be more challenging than the one you’ve just experienced.

  18. Amazing to see Clif in the garden with no snow this time of the year. Please thank him for doing his job so well!
    Paul’s birthday is 22nd April and he says it’s a good time for a birthday, spring for you and autumn for us.. best wishes..😊😁🌞

  19. I wouldn’t be so hasty in letting Clif put away his snow gauge, Laurie. The weather folks here keep reminding us it’s still Winter, and that we will have more cold snaps. Yes, there are Spring bulbs peeking out from the earth, but something tells me we might get a late ice storm, probably in April. (We have, before!)

  22. I suppose the good news is that you’ve had rain, despite the annoyance of mud. No snow and no rain would be more than problematic! The book you reviewed sounds interesting: not least because I think I could identify somewhat with Denham. I had a rather fashion conscious mother myself, while preferring to be roaming outdoors. I wasn’t exactly anti-social, but I did bore easily.

    1. Yes, at least we’ve had rain. That’s something.

      I, too, had a fashion-conscious mother, but her fashions were of a generation before mine, and this led to conflicts in the free and easy 1970s.

      Denham is an oddball who just doesn’t fit in with her society, and I came to have great sympathy for her. I think a person like Denham would have a much better time today. If she wanted to spend her life outdoors messing about in boats, I doubt anyone would stop her.

  24. We have barely glimpsed Cliff this year and your snow-blower has had a year of!!!

  25. Clif is looking quite jaunty with his snow gauge but no snow! We have had no snow at all this winter and winters are becoming less arctic year on year. I would have liked a little snow in January or February but not now with all the spring flowers blooming and the birds singing.
    Thank you for the excellent book review. I have been meaning to read Rose Macaulay for a while but haven’t done anything about it. I read a review of The Towers of Trebizond and thought that it sounded interesting.
    Racist sounding words and comments in older books always jump out at one and can be a surprise or even shocking. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the author was racist or that their characters were racist either and I understand that the language is of it’s time. However, you are right in saying that we should point out these instances of racist language as a matter of principle. The subsequent effect on me after the surprise is a feeling of distance and separation from the story and the characters – not exactly a judgemental distancing but it’s like when someone one knows fairly well does something out of character. I am glad we are becoming aware of the harm words can do to others and that we must try to think before we speak and write.

    1. Yes, he does look jaunty. But for a Mainer, this snowless March is beyond weird. The weather we are having is more like what we get the end of April.

      You got it exactly right when you mentioned a feeling of distance and separation from the story and characters when coming upon racist elements in a novel. So well put. And yes, words and and ideas can lead to great harm. For example, eugenic ideas at the turn of the 1900s led to women and some men being sterilized in Maine and Vermont because these people were deemed unworthy of having children. Chilling!

  26. Your yard does look ready for spring! I wonder, as you likely do, if winter will return, if only for a few weeks.
    We just received about a foot of snow, but in all likelihood it will melt before the weekend is over. I always feel sorry for all the wild creatures who have to adapt to such crazy swings without all the creature comforts we get to enjoy.

  28. I’m just in shock that snow-gauge Clif season is over!! Amazing how winter has disappeared in so many areas this year. I saw my first flowers this week and the nearby swamp sounds are booming. I think we’ve seen the last of our 70 degree days for a couple weeks. Thanks for the excellent review and I’ll be adding the interesting book to my list.🙂

  29. Dear Laurie, Gosh, I am so behind! I stay with Mama mostly, and can not keep up with blogging, so I am tardy always. I miss you and consider you especially dear. Our spring came early too. love, Michele

    1. Right now, your attention needs to be on your mother. Thanks so very much for the lovely words. I have been thinking of you, your mother, and your family.

  30. I’m stunned, Laurie. This is a worrying state of affairs. I’ve just read another blog from Illinois where spring flowers are blooming three to four weeks early. As for Snow-Gauge Clif, I’m glad he’s not paid by the foot.

    I always enjoy reading your reviews.

    1. Right? The front yard is nearly raked. In mid-March? When has that ever happened. Answer: Never! Yes, a good thing Snow-Gauge isn’t paid by the foot.

  31. That is a very short snow season for your area, but I am guessing you can still see April snows there. Nature has a way of sending curve balls when we least expect it.

    It was 80 on our porch thermometer 2 days ago, and upper 60s here yesterday. Mornings have been down in the 30s. A few more days of sun, and then back to rain, according to the forecast.

    “All Denham wants is a simple life, not so easy for women of her class and generation in the 1920s.” I do feel sorry for her. Being stifled by societal norms is not a pleasant thing for anyone, from low to high born.

    1. Very short is right! Sounds as though the weather is strange in your area, too. I’m guessing 80 in March is not usual.

      Yes, being stifled by social norms is not pleasant for anyone.

      1. In summer, the temperature can swing 40 or 50 degrees during the day. We generally don’t see those swings in winter. I have seen the occasional 90 degree day in April, and frost in early June. The plants sure do get confused!

Comments are closed.