By LINDA GOODSPEED

   I have a confession to make. I think I may have contributed to the recent warm winter and lack of snow.

   I did not do it on purpose. After all, I am a skier! I like winter. I like snow. But I also like playing the piano. And shortly after Christmas, I started learning “Summertime,” the great blue-sy piece by George Gershwin from Porgy and Bess.

   I have been playing it every day on my piano, sometimes even with the window open. It’s been that warm this winter. The song is so magical and powerful, I am sure that it is responsible for keeping winter at bay.

   This is a tough confession for me to make. I should have waited until spring to learn the song. But I can’t help myself. The lazy opening always reminds me of a young girl in a sundress and barefoot, a flower tucked absent mindedly in her long hair. She is wandering along a dirt road picking flowers. Insects are buzzing in the heat.

   Summertime, and the livin’ is easy.

   Fish are jumpin’ and the cotton is high.

   Your daddy’s rich and your mama’s good looking’.

   So, hush little baby. Don’t you cry.

   Dubos Heyward wrote the words. George Gershwin the evocative music with its impossible chords and stretches that slide into each other. What a song!

   To all my fellow skiers, I apologize. I’m sorry I have kept winter away. But I can’t help it. Such is the power of Gershwin.

   Next winter, I promise I will learn White Christmas!