The Benefits

Okay, so the most obvious benefit-- get out of school free card-- of snow is... well... obvious. There aren't really any other circumstances where you are SUPPOSED to spend your unexpected day out of school outside, playing with friends. Fewer yet are days when both you AND your friends are out of school unexpectedly at the same time!

But there are some other benefits, too. For one, a good deep freeze will eliminate a bunch of future biting bugs. For another, snow is supposed to have even better nutritional value for the earth than rain. Go figure. And on top of all that, it cushions sound. Ever go outside in the middle of a good solid snow? It's quiet. Richly quiet.

That feeling of being wrapped in a moment-- in a small little cocoon of snow and of silence... it's invigorating, sillifying. (silly as a pronoun/verb thingy) And beautiful. I drove over to the beach yesterday, and discovered snow still resting on some of the driftwood. And in the higher elevations, in the hills you drive through and over and around to GET to the beach from where I live? There were trees. Many many trees. And each of them had been highlighted in white pen, delicate soft silvery spotlights, dusting the tops of all the branches and every twig. Magickal.

I SO wish I'd brought my camera. I'd have stopped and taken a picture-- and all the people driving 30 mph behind me for safety (since none of us has any sort of traction devices for our cars-- who needs them here??) would have a good excuse to be frustrated and delayed... until they saw what I was looking at. Then, maybe a few of them would have been glad to have a moment where it was safe to take their eyes off the road, and look up. Up at those amazing snowy leafless trees. It was like looking at lace against the crisp blue winter sky!

Anyway, I'm glad I went yesterday. Today, it snowed most of the day where I was holed up, and it was beautiful. I could even hear the occasional yell of a child on a saucer, sledding down the big hill near my place, and getting one of the healthiest rushes the natural world provides. Wow.

I still can't get over the fact that each snowflake is unique-- for all the millions and zillions that must have fallen, just to create MY 4 inches of snow... no two are exactly alike. Creativity that can't be duplicated or purchased. That's pretty unique all in itself. And don't go talking to me about artificial snow-blowers and all that. I don't want to hear about it. I'm busy. I'm listening to my feet crunch in the snow outside, and smiling at how big an impact my sounds make in the world when all the ambient noise of daily life is muffled by the clean slate of silent snow.

I guess that's part of learning to be a good listener-- learning to tune out those demanding and distracting noises of daily life, so that you can focus on just one thing-- on the impact of someone else's foot falls in the world. No hair dryer, no dryer buzz, no buzzing microwave, none of that. Just... listen... and hear how important each person is, and see what shape their lives make in the snow...