Storms That Dare To Fret And Blow

The ex-hurricane known as Ophelia is blowing with gleeful abandon outside the window, making the darkness even more scary than it usually is. Wooo.... wooo.... No, it's not the scary monster of a hurricane that menaced the Caribbean last month, but it's still disturbing.

When you walk in the wind, and stick out your hands, or even your whole arms while doing an airplane impression, you get a very interesting feeling as the air rushes under your fingers. It feels a little like the way flying is in the imagination: A cool rushing sensation and a sense of freedom. It's very nice, apart from the flying debris in this case, of course. Ophelia is, after all, an ex-hurricane! It was a nice walk home earlier. Very fun, in a slightly perilous mode.

It's probably the meteorologists' fault. They had to give the storm a Shakespearean name from his most famous play, didn't they? Of course it was going to be a gigantic drama! Of course! If only I knew enough about 'Hamlet' to comment further! Ophelia is in that play, yes? Oh, Shakespeare, you and your storms. There was famously a storm in 'The Tempest', wasn't there? Well, it would be hard for there not to be a storm in 'The Tempest'! Cancel the redundant question. Cancel everything. Bring back woodcuts as the prime form of entertainment.

Shakespeare is a massive weak spot in the pile of literary knowledge that lies behind the Quirky Muffin. We studied 'Macbeth' and 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' at school, both of which seemed interminable, but which probably weren't motivated in the best way in class. Is there a good way to motivate reading 'Macbeth'? It's one of the dreariest plays. We even went to see one of the incredibly clichéd productions set in Nazi Germany. Oh, those hideous days... 'Julius Caesar' seems a far more interesting play, in prospect, and 'The Tempest' seems more approachable after a brief read through some time ago.

What would Shakespeare have written about storm Ophelia? Would it have involved a long sketch about someone painting little bookcases, and watching them repeatedly being blown over? No, it would have been something much different. Or would it? Would Ophelia have been the main character?

O.