Snowfall

“The snow itself is lonely or, if you prefer, self-sufficient. There is no other time when the whole world seems composed of one thing and one thing only.”

Joseph Wood Krutch

This is a sight rarely seen in Birmingham, AL. The last time I remember a snow this pretty was in 1996, when we were actually able to drag out the sled and ride it down the middle of the street. I know the rest of the South is covered as we are. Folks in all the places where snow rarely falls are gaping out their windows as though the rapture had taken place right before their eyes.

“Snow provokes responses that reach right back to childhood.” (Andy Goldsworthy) When my sons were little, they stayed outside playing for as long as there was one handful of snow to throw. Why is it that children never seem to notice cold? When they finally came inside encrusted in ice, blue-lipped and stiff, it took two people to pull off, layer by layer, all the frozen clothing. Then we made hot chocolate and built up the fire. That I believe is what is truly captivating about snow—people bundle together and roast marshmallows and talk to one another in joyful ways that they typically don't. This is especially so when the power is down, so there is no TV, no video game, no internet to intrude on human to human contact. My sons loved making a pallet of sleeping bags and couch pillows in front of the fire, and sleeping huddled together under loads of quilts all night. As soon as the snow melted, it was back to separate rooms and video games, but for that short, magical time, they were brothers in the truest sense.

As long and bitter as this winter is, I am glad for the snow today. It has brought back sweet memories and lovely pictures to my mind. For us here in the deep South, it is easy to isolate memories of snow because we have so few. Already the sun is bright and everywhere water is dripping from branches and gutters. We have to remember quickly or lose the opportunity.

I hope that wherever you are today, you will take a few minutes to remember all the ways that winter, like every other season, is a blessing. I'm going to put cat-food out for the birds and squirrels today. They like it better than scratch grain. Maybe it's like squirrel-s'mores—a rare treat that only happens when it snows.

                                                       In the Spirit,

                                                            Jane