Snow! Snow! Snow!

I like to talk "big" about spending my winters in sunny, warmer climes, but the truth is I love the change of seasons and I love snow. I suppose it's easy to write about my love of snow in December when it's fresh and white and new and gives everything a delightful Christmas card feel. When it's still on the ground in March, however, and looking sooty and dirty and like big, hard clumps of gray gunk, I've already moved on to thoughts of spring and am just waiting for the first signs of green. But, it's December! At this time of year, I'm right with Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney, dreaming of a white Christmas. I'm singing with a smile as they croon "Snow" and convince me to "go to sleep and dream of snow, snow, snow, snow." I'm one with Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, belting out jubilantly every word of "Let it Snow." And sing it I did the week before Thanksgiving when we experienced our first snowfall of the season. When I awoke that morning and threw open the curtains, everything outside was coated with a thick blanket of white. The stark, coal-colored bare tree limbs were frosted with inches of perfect, white snow. I grabbed my cell phone to capture a few pictures of the idyllic scene. I recognized that same excited feeling I've had since childhood in reaction to the first snow fall of the season, with visions of the adventures of making snowmen, snow angels and snow forts dancing in my head. That evening, our community held its annual Christmas light parade. Every glittering parade entry looked as if it was caught in a snow globe. It was magical. So this month, I'll sing along happily with Bing and Rosemary and Steve and Eydie. And I'll revel in the thrill of December snowfalls and the magic surrounding them. Let it snow!

First Snow

Although I'd heard the forecast, I was still surprised to open the curtains yesterday morning to see it snowing.  Big, fluffy flakes filled the sky, sticking to the grass and the trees as they fell.  I wasn't sure if I was ready for the first real snow of the season, but it arrived without asking me, so I figured I might as well embrace it.  By lunchtime, the snow had subsided.  However, it left a light blanket of white on nearly every surface except for the streets.  Although I'm a warm-weather person, I have to admit that I felt the romance of this first snow.  Everything was clean and pure and silent.  The snow made me start thinking about the holidays.  I wanted to sing Christmas music.  I could see myself tucked under my quilt from Kitty, leisurely taking a book from the stack I'd checked out from the public library, reading until a nap would take over.  In a few days, the temperature is supposed to soar back to around 50.  The snow will melt and the romance will be gone, if only temporarily until the first really big snow arrives.

First Snow

We had our first snowfall of the season a few days ago.  It was one of those rare days when I needed to be on the road for my job.  There was no danger on the roadway that day, so I was able to simply enjoy the beauty of the big, fat white flakes falling gently around me.  The snow stuck on some road signs and tried to linger on the grass here and there, but for the most part, the snow landed and disappeared.  It's funny how the first snowfall brings me such joy. I see it and have visions of being tucked in with a good book or sticking my tongue out to catch flakes as I take a weekend walk.  Fast forward to March and my disgust will have grown with each flake as I try to hurry spring along.  By then, I'm tired of wearing heavy coats, dragging my boots along and hoping not to lose a glove.  I've become bored with winter's chill and long for days of sandals and t-shirts.  For now, however, that first snowfall brought about a contentment that the seasons are changing and that a quieter time is near.