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| Our backyard, as seen from our second-floor porch. |
It's a snowy February so far here in my part of the United States. This reminds me that there's not a lot of snow in the Canon (although there is in Sherlock Holmes and the Missing Snowman.)
Even "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle" only talks about frost, not snow. But there is a great description of February snow in "The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet":
It was a bright, crisp February morning, and the snow of the day before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and on the heaped-up edges of the foot-paths it still lay as white as when it fell.
Whenever I read these great descriptions of weather in the Canon, I'm reminded of that excellent piece of writing advice from the late, great children's author Sid Fleischman on his website: "Give weather reports: It helps the reality of a scene if foghorns are blowing or kites are in the sky on a windy afternoon or the day's so hot wallpaper is peeling off the walls."
ACD gave weather reports a lot. What's your favorite weather description in the Canon?
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