Early Winter Morning

The winter sun barely blazes through the hazy sky as if frost has taken flight and formed a barrier between you and any hope of heating your cold hardened face. You sigh and surrender into the unwelcome arms of frostbite, forbidding yourself to yell out from the painful pinch that ice has put upon your nose. You decide to arc your mouth upward because you are a true mountain warrior, and when your comrades find you they will know that you died smiling. Humans evolved in tropical climates, and met cold weather as they migrated into Eurasia, although earlier populations certainly encountered Southern Hemisphere winters in Southern Africa. Micro-evolution in Caucasian, Asiatic and Inuit people show some adaptation to the climate. In Greek mythology, Hades kidnapped Persephone to be his wife. Zeus ordered Hades to return her to Demeter, the goddess of the Earth and her mother. However, Hades tricked Persephone into eating the food of the dead, so Zeus decreed that Persephone would spend six months with Demeter and six months with Hades. During the time her daughter is with Hades, Demeter became depressed and caused winter. In Welsh mythology, Gwyn ap Nudd abducted a maiden named Creiddylad. On May Day, her lover, Gwythr ap Greidawl, fought Gwyn to win her back. The battle between them represented the contest between summer and winter.