Transience of Snow

The beginning of winter, at last.

I woke up today, prepared my breakfast, even turned on the television before looking outside to see blue sky and a fresh (albiet thin) blanket of snow. Between arriving home late, and getting up early, the sky had provided this small gift, along with wind and very cold temperatures. None of these bother me too much. Spending quite a few winters in conditions like that have hardened me somewhat, and I don't view these days as negatively as some people close to me do.

I remembered those seemingly few days when I was younger, when the snow would fall in the middle of the night and school would be closed, giving me the opportunity to play outside, breaking through that fresh, even layer of snow to make a fort, or snow man, or sled down the small hill of my parent's back yard. I never fully appreciated then how beautiful the snow was, falling from branches of the surrounding trees, gusting into small devils in the wind, hitting my face and melting almost instantly.

With the last few days and the little bits of snow we've been given, I'm admiring it again, although from an adults perspective. I always thought that six inches of fresh now, a perfect layer was the best, but seeing the vast and numerous field and farms, bent and cut cornstalks, all that is left from the fall's harvest, with the barest hint of white on the bare earth around them, I realize pure white as far as the eye can see may not be all that is wonderful about a winter storm.

Still better is the falling snow itself, best seen through the window, with cup of coffee, or better a good beer in my hand, my wife nearby. We had the fortune of that last week Wednesday, thinking about the good Thanksgiving meal to come.

We should a good snow tomorrow, before the sleet and rain take it away, and I'll hopefully be watching it from the window tomorrow, a mountain of grading in front of me, drinking an Anchor Our Special Ale 2007. (more beer suggestions to come later)

*photo of our Halloween pumpkin with fallen snow, the day before Thanksgiving 2008