Opening of the Cortina Winter Olympics

Bitter and clear in the small hours, the air falling by the hour and gusts out of the dark making it worse, near 8°F below zero by 8am under a sky full of stars. Then the sun came up and stayed. The whole short day was blue and sharp, the cold easing slowly through the morning until the afternoon felt almost kind at near 16°, the wind gone and the light hard off everything. Dusk brought cloud. It thickened fast after dark and the air settled near 10° under it, still and grey and bitter again.