LET IT SNOW

NOTES OF CONCERN….
…..Jack Blair



SNOW

I am very biased. I love snow.

Now that we have that out of the way, my prejudices stated up front, we could talk about snow.

As I drive through town and I see the snow piled so high along the streets, especially in the downtown area, I recall trips to ski resorts where snow was always around and things always looked wintery.

People wore bright clothes, their faces were ruddy from being out in the sun and skiing or snowboarding, and there was an air of excitement and enjoyment.

Over the years I have come to realize that most of this was Disney-like. The world really isn’t like that. The resorts use a lot of smoke and mirrors to create that feeling. Yet many Americans spend huge amounts of money just to spend a week or two in the snow.

In towns across America, folks like me who really enjoy winter enjoy not just the skiing or the parties or the bright clothes. We like to watch snow falling. We don’t have to be out in the snow. We can have a feeling of satisfaction just looking at it out the window.

When the snow is really fluffy and coming down in big flakes, my wife and I like to take our Labrador retrievers and go for a walk. We put on our big coats with our hoods, get our hands into gloves, pull on our boots and away we go. We have almost as much fun as the dogs!

The most rundown house looks great in the snow. No one cares about landscaping because the snow produces a landscape all its own. Cars move on the streets as if in slow motion. Drivers are more cautious. The everyday things of life seem surreal. Everyone takes more care with their daily activities .

Most kids like snow. They like it because it usually means no school, or at least a late opening. They can go out and play in the white stuff. They make angels in the snow. They construct snowmen, they engage in snowball fights.

Somehow when it snows a cup of coffee tastes better; a pot of tea brings back warm memories, and hot chocolate with marshmallows-to die for.

Is there anything like sitting in front of a fireplace, warming oneself with a drink and a good book, while the wind howls outside and the snow falls? I don’t think so.

So my friends, you can either look at the “white stuff” with excitement and optimism, or you can moan at the inconveniences it brings and the drudgery it creates in your life.

If you are in the latter group, you are really missing out on one of nature’s gifts to us. Nature gives us the beauty of fall leaves, the hope of a new spring, the relaxation of a long and sultry summer, so we should assume that we are intended to get equal enjoyment out of the white and snowy winter.

It is true lots of folks hate winter many of them become the “Snowbirds” that southerners like to talk about. They fly out of the north and head for the south as soon as the cold weather arrives. Then they return to the north and flee the south as soon as the hot weather arrives there. They spend their time and money trying to change the seasons of life.

How about engaging in an experiment.

Greet the snow with open arms. Get out in it. Don’t focus on the work it brings but rather on its beauty. I know the work is still there, but you can even make that part fun.

I knew a lady once who had a rather long driveway. When it snowed, she saw it as an opportunity to create something beautiful, to be artistic.

She would wait until the snow was fairly deep, then she would go out with her shovel and create what looked like a carefully crafted three or four foot wall of snow, beautifully sculpted, on both sides of her drive. She didn’t shovel and throw, she shoveled and designed. It took her a long time. But when she was finished she had created a thing of beauty. It was her way of making a chore into an adventure.

To the snowplow driver, the mailman on foot, the elderly who cannot safely get around in winter, and many others I know, this is a bit of Pollyanna talk.

Nevertheless, for those of you who seek the enjoyment of winter, it is there for the taking.

Let it snow!