As somebody who has lived in the northeastern United States my whole life (four different states, but still: the same region), I can get a little bit jaded when it comes to snow. This might have something to do with not being a kid anymore and therefore needing to drive occasionally in the aforementioned snow (not fun) and sometimes shovel it (only fun when followed by hot cocoa with mini marshmallows).
It's very easy for jaded adults to forget that snow is one of Mother Nature's greatest and most astonishing magic tricks.
Kids never grow tired of snow, do they? It's always new and fresh and the best surprise ever! Even if hot cocoa were subtracted from the equation, children would still adore it.
One of my favorite children's books, Snow by Cynthia Rylant, captures the pure poetry inherent in every snowfall. Her words give me warm shivers, taking me back to my childhood memories of snowy days in Connecticut. She writes: "Some snow falls only lightly, just enough to make you notice the delicate limbs of trees, the light falling from the lamppost, a sparrow's small feet."
It's true. Snow opens our eyes to the world again. Waking up to a hushed morning and peering out through the curtains to find the world covered in a sparkling white blanket--surely, that's a form of magic, isn't it?
I'm currently reading Nine Essential Things I've Learned About Life (because I'm a sucker for "life lesson" books!) by Harold S. Kushner and came across this fitting passage today:
"I would tell the teachers in our religious school, 'I don't want to hear that on the day of the first serious snowfall in winter, you called the children back from the window to return to page forty-three in the textbook. A young child's gasp of delight at the beauty of the snow will be as authentic a prayer, and as religiously grounded a response to the wonder and beauty of God's world, as anything in your lesson plan for that afternoon.' "
I love that. There are life lessons suffused in the snowflakes, lessons about wonder and delight and never losing sight of natural magic.
And then there's this lesson, again from Cynthia Rylant's book: "...the snow, while it is here, reminds us of this: that nothing lasts forever except memories."
Have a magical weekend, dear friends, and I'll see you back here in two weeks!
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P.S. I've just finished teaching my newest (and quite possibly my favorite) online course, Soul Focus: Finding Peace Through Photography. I loved every single illuminating day with my students and can't wait to run it again! Make sure you're signed up (below) for my free monthly newsletter, Writing with Light, to get the first notice for all of my e-courses plus the Early Bird Discounts...
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