Winter's Last Hurrah

When Mike told me this morning that it was only .6 degrees outside (that's point 6, as in less than one!!) I decided to try to be positive about yet another freezing cold day, and said, "This is Winter's last hurrah." Such a common phrase, but what does it mean? Off to my computer in the den, then to Google and on to Wikipedia: Last Hurrah means "a final appearance or effort, especially at the end of a career". Then on to a dictionary that called the phrase an American idiom and defined it as "a last performance before someone finishes a job or activity".

Okay, we're getting there, now where did the phrase come from? Back to Google. It was a 1956 novel by Edwin O'Connor about an old Irish American political boss running for re-election as mayor for the last time. A movie by the same name and based on the book was released in 1958 and starred Spencer Tracy. It was about "urban boss politics". A summary of the movie by Ed Lorusso describes it: "...(the movie) examines the good and evil inherent in politics and all the things that go into an election...(it portrays) an uphill battle against political machinery that preyed on ethnic hatred and old-time money." (Personal note: Has anything changed much?)

As an aside, I also learned that there is a business called The Last Hurrah Book Shop that specializes in selling books and memorabilia about, of all things, political assassinations. (Does this go into the category of "anything for a buck"?)

I have a built in barometer (called sinuses) that are telling me loud and clear that a big weather change is coming, so there is hope that Old Man Winter will soon expire and warmer days are on their way. (Wonder where "old man winter" came from?)