“Snow falling soundlessly in the middle of the night will always fill my heart with sweet clarity”
Yesterday Mother Nature punked us. It was warm. The snow was melting, icicles were falling off tree limbs, and I left slushy foot prints when I walked to the car. It was a taste of spring. Today is winter again. It is 31° but sunny. Luckily there is no wind.
This morning didn’t start well. One front step is still covered in ice, and I had to hold on to the door to keep from slipping. I made it safely to the paper and back. While my coffee was brewing, I took a trash bag out to the deck. The door locked all by itself. I tried but couldn’t get into the house. Through the gate was the only way out. The gate has snow on both sides, hard, crunchy snow. I tried to open the gate, a fence panel meant for a yard. I got it unlocked but couldn’t move it for the snow. I yanked the gate and kicked the snow several times. I managed to open a small gap. I squeezed through the gap knowing it was the only solution, but it took a while. My shoulders are wide as are other parts of my body. Finally I managed to get through the gate and out of the yard. I had to walk though the snow on my driveway. My feet sunk. I went to my knees a couple of times, but finally I got to the road and the front door. I had left the front door open. It was serendipitous.
When I was a kid, snow was always an event. We all wished for a snow day. We wanted to go sledding. We wanted to build snowmen. We didn’t want to go to school. We kept watch. The biggest disappointment was when only a little snow fell. It was useless except for maybe a stray snowball, but that was it. I remember Sister Superior coming over the speaker to warn us before we went out for recess. Any throwing of snowballs would not be tolerated and the thrower would be punished. She never said how, but we didn’t want to risk it.
Snow is so pretty, untended when it first falls, pristine, sparkling like diamonds in the light, but the beauty of the snow has a short life. That’s my least favorite part.
My dance card was filled with uke this week: practice, my lesson and two concerts. My poor sloth is exhausted.
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February 12, 2026 at 4:05 pm
It is years since I had fun in the snow. We returned from a winter holiday in the Swiss resort of Zermatt on March 8, 2020. I have not been in snow since then. The Covid pandemic engulfed our lives shortly afterward. Snow rarely falls in our part of the south of England. I just heard today that a neighbour has taken an 800 mile round road trip to Scotland in order to try to see snow for the first time in her life. She was born in The Philippines. She is returning and due to arrive home tomorrow, without ever having encountered the white stuff. I guess she did not travel far enough north, as I know from my contacts there is snow for skiing and other pursuits in the more mountainous areas up there.
February 12, 2026 at 7:55 pm
Peter,
I haven’t had fun in the snow for a long time either. I loved to watch it falling, but after that comes the shoveling: my back steps, car, walkway and mail box across the street. I used to do all the shoveling myself, but I am far too old for that now. Luckily my students come through. I just sit and watch.