As the earth reaches the point where water turns to ice
And life retreats into the caves and crevasses of the world
In a valiant attempt to retain the heat that it has stored up
From the new life of spring and the warmth of summer
Hiding away from the slow creeping death of cold
Trying to survive until the warm air renews the earth again
Winter has arrived and in it is a time where the earth yield not its fruit
Where the sun disappears behind the clouds and shortens it trek along the sky
And for a season the north winds and the cold nights reign supreme
While the creatures of spring hide away or flee towards the lands of summer
Until the transitory ice age passes and the waters melt and life returns
Neil White, 2013
Sign of the Rose 