Snow

From my archives. Maybe she'll come to visit again this year too!




I have always loved snow. I have always lived where this fluffy white stuff appears periodically and I wouldn't have it any other way. Snow is full of beauty and possibilities for play. It tames us when we think we are in control of our world and it delights us when the call comes "It's a Snow Day!". What a marvelous creative outlet for water molecules. No two snowflakes alike! Ever! Imagine!

My snow memories are abundant, many of them on skis. Winding through snowy trails in the forests and over bridges in Vermont and New Hampshire. (On our honeymoon we arrived in Vermont and it immediately began to snow and didn't stop until there were 16 fresh inches on the ground. We had our skis, an inkeeper to provide breakfast and each other. Talk about perfect!) Backcountry trips in West Virginia, complete with full pack and face plants. Swooshing by on groomed trails at the Olympic ski venues. Racing in Leavenworth, WA.... and on and on. Still waiting to add "inn to inn" ski touring to the list.

Then there are snow memories of building snow people. When I was a kid. When I was a grown up. My favorite have been the snow people in the front yard toasting marshmallows around our snow fire. They mysteriously come to visit some years. Maybe this year?

Oh, there are also been those moments of praying hard while traveling on roads that weren't meant to be traveled on. That's when snow reminds us that we aren't the ones in charge of our universe, much as we like to pretend that is indeed the case. I am thankful for always making it home, or at least someplace for the night (including a church floor in Kansas en route to Colorado one winter).

I also love hiking in the summer snow in the Rockies... shorts and gaiters and the cool air caressing our legs while the summer heat bears down on our shoulders. It's a May and June trekking experience not to be missed.

Snowy night walks are my favorite, right along with snowy night skiing. One New Year's Eve my just-out-of-college-friends and I put on our skis at midnight in the full moon and skied under the Flatirons in Boulder until we were too tired to go any further. Lots of years have passed and I'd still revisit that scene.

Thus, my love affair with snow is strongly embedded in my soul. Last night the conditions were perfect. Fresh powder, in the 20's, that evening "snow light" where everything is aglow though the sky is dark and foreboding. I can't head out for miles from my front door, but I did the next best thing... skiing down the street to the teeny tiny park on the lake and set about 1/10 of a mile track there. I went round and round and round until I could go no more. Smiles on my face, and joy in my sweaty heart.

I am fully aware that there are those who love humidity and sunshine and heat and beaches. You can have them. I'll take my snow. Tonight, however, I'll take the warm indoors as the temperature heads towards zero outside. No skiing or walking as I am too tired. But there is always tomorrow.

The more inches the better.