Commentary by Frank Schroth

Tonight will be the darkest evening of the year. It will come earlier and last longer than at any other time. As a good friend noted recently, last Friday was an especially dark day for the nation. Today at 9:30am the Governor of Connecticut has asked us to join him in a moment of silence. Governor Patrick and the Milton Police encourage all to participate  –  The Milton Police, who last night with the aid of neighboring responders rescued a lost woman. As my friend went on to note, poetry and music and friends can illuminate the darkness. Here is one example:

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
BY ROBERT FROST

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.