January 2nd week nature prompt
Snowflakes Dance Before My Eyes and Implore Me to Play
I woke up this morning and looked out my window. This is my daily habit. That way I can tell what the weather is. My bedroom faces east so I’m often greeted by a sunrise also. My heart skipped a beat. It was snowing big fluffy flakes.
“Yes, it’s going to be a spectacular day!” I pumped the air with my fist and danced. My dog looked at me as if I was crazy.
This is the effect that snow has on me. Fantastic memories flood my mind. I’ve had a love affair with snowflakes since I was a small child. They’re really frozen water crystals. If the temperature is such that their edges melt, they stick together and form BIG flakes.
The clear crystals reflect light. Our eye sees them as white because they’re reflecting all the colors of a rainbow. Better imprint the snow in your memory bank. The incidence of snowfalls declines every year. We need snow. When it melts it fills our rivers and reservoirs.
Our family loves to play in the snow
I introduced my kids to the glory of snow as soon as they could walk. Bundled nice and warm in snowsuits, we went sledding and made snowmen and snowballs. We even built snow forts. I showed them the bird and animal tracks around our house. They delighted in the colorful winter birds that came to our feeders.
We enjoyed fabulous snow days at a variety of downhill ski areas. All my children love to play in the snow. We went tobogganing and snowshoeing.
We went cross-country skiing in the wilderness around Mt. Hood. There are many groomed trails to choose from. We would pack knapsacks with thermos bottles of cocoa and hearty sandwiches. That type of skiing takes a lot of energy.
Mountaineers love to climb when there is a good snowpack. My sons and I climbed Mt. Hood on a superbly clear day. On the summit, we could see for miles. Mt. Hood gets quite crowded on a weekend. There can be fifty or more climbers on top.
After my divorce, I moved to Chelan, WA. The Cascade Mountain range became my playground then. My husky, Chan Teh, was my new sidekick. We climbed summits and skijored together.
This is Mother Nature’s handiwork after a particularly cold night. The rocks are coated with wind-driven ice. It was an awesome moment during a climb. Isn’t Nature grand!
Not everyone loves to see snow. They grumble and moan. They resent having to shovel and drive under those conditions. Have they forgotten what it is to play?
This article is written in response to the Reciprocal Nature prompt of “Relate your experience with snow” by Dr. Preeti Singh.
I encourage you to read the posts by other writers on Medium that caught my eye.
Leonard Tillerman writes a powerful post on the fleeting moments of pure joy in one’s life.
Diana Meresc gives positive suggestions to foster peace of mind in a chaotic world.
Dr. Preeti Singh describes her joy and love of working with plants while volunteering in her community.
A heartfelt thank you to the editors of Reciprocal, Sahil Patel, Dr. Preeti Singh, and Yana Bostongirl for their hard work.
