Snow
Years ago, I was having breakfast in a small diner in Vermont. I was chatting with an older man sitting next to me and our conversation turned to the differences in weather between Maryland and Vermont. I told him how much I loved snow and how I always wished that we'd get more. He said something like, "Yeah, it keeps the riffraff out."
I've always kinda thought along those lines as well. I seem to get along better with people who can tolerate (and even appreciate) snow and cold weather. People who just have to have sunny skies and 80 degrees tend to come across as weaker, whinier, and more shallow than the rest of us. You'd think snow was the end of the world for some people as much as they complain about it.
I love snow. It seems to make everything slow down. I love the anticipation. I love filling my lungs with the cold air. I love the feel of a single snowflake landing on my skin. I love the feel of packing a snowball or sliding a shovel under a pile of the stuff. I love the way it seems to illuminate the outside at night. Most of all, I love two things that I think most people never experience - the smell and the sound, both of which are almost impossible to capture in mere words.
Today, I put any hope of more snow away for the season. I'll tolerate the coming spring, enjoy the summer, and love the fall, but smelling the air before the approach of the winter's first snow and hearing the flakes' soft tumble against the ground will always be magic.
Monday, March 17, 2008
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3 comments:
We were talking about this at work the other day - yes, the first couple of snows are beautiful and magical and wonderful. It's just that when you're up to 91" on the season, and the stuff that's not yet melted is dirty and gross, and you know that the whole state is just gonna be one big mud pit before long... Blech.
But seriously, there is nothing like the feeling of watching the first *big* snow fall. It's so quiet outside, and you feel like if you concentrate hard enough, you can hear the flakes falling. Ahhhhhhh.
Can we just skip straight from early winter to late spring?
I don't mind the old snow laying around, but I see your point about the mud. That's the main reason spring is my least favorite season - the ground's too soft to do much outside.
I'm a snow lover too. I get giddy when that first snow flake falls every winter. Some of my favorite memories are walking down the middle of the street, and the only sound is the snow crunching under my feet....then a damn snowmobile comes along and ruins it all. :(
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