Snowfall

It finally snowed. Significantly. I love how snow can suddenly renew a landscape. What was once brown and dead has been renewed with different shades of white and crystal. The sun reflecting off the snow gives the covered landscape life. Wind comes and shapes the landscape, making it look different, yet the same. There’s still snow, but now it’s moved and changed shape. Like a life-sized Etch-A-Sketch.

Coincidentally, this snowfall came at the eve of the New Year. A perfect time for one to reflect on his or her changing landscape and search for an inner peace. The snow gives the city a soft, peaceful silence. It is out in the snow that one can truly reflect on his or her life, dreams, fears, hopes. The snow doesn’t judge, but rather it listens quietly and absorbs spoken, conscious thought.

For me, snow is romantic. The way it beautifies even the ugliest stubs of grass, how it sits on trees, bending them ever so slightly, giving them a weepy, quiet look. Snow is soft, gentle, and is still. I love nothing more than to walk in the falling snow, allowing the flakes to grace my face and hair, reminding me that self-renewal is always a possibility. Chivalry is not dead, but alive and well. Couples go for a walk – one falls, and the other helps her up. A boyfriend brushes snow off his girlfriend’s face. A wife steadies her husband, who is on ice skates for the first time.

I love snow for its all-encompassing personality. For as gentle as snow can be, it can also serve as a harsh mistress. Blizzards can kill, as well as ice storms and bitter cold temperatures. Thin ice invites tragedy. The very snow many fall in love can turn deadly in moments. For no reason. As quickly as the snow unleashes its vengeance, it settles into a slow dusting, before disappearing all together.

I cherish every snowfall, for it’s renewal, romance, and unpredictability. Very much like my own life. There’s always hope for renewal and romance, but I face unpredictability along every step. Two-thousand and seven will be the year of renewal and romance for me. And there will be plenty of storms along the way.