The comedian Carl Reiner once quipped, “A lot of people like snow. I find it to be an unnecessary freezing of water.” And by the time we turn our calendars to February, it can feel like enough is enough with the white stuff.
But to stay on a positive path through wintertime, we would be wise to stay connected to the special, beautiful qualities of snow, the ways it can remind us that the rhythms of nature are all precious and positive, if we choose to see them that way.
1) Today’s Snow Is Tomorrow’s Garden
The author Lewis Carroll wrote, “I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, ‘Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.’” I love this image of the thick blanket of snow protecting the soil and seeds that wait patiently for their spring and summer moments, and that when they come, the melted snow will nourish and awaken all the things we hope to grow.
2) Snow Is a Unique Kind of Quiet
In his famous poem “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening,” Robert Frost writes of pausing on his horse in the quiet forest. Other than the sound of a gentle shake of the horse’s harness bells, he writes, “The only other sound’s the sweep / Of easy wind and downy flake.” There’s a kind of quiet that can only be experienced as snow falls. Like a mute on a trumpet, snow just makes the world sound different. Peaceful. The kind of calm that can settle in your chest and follow you inside.
3) Snow Asks Us to Slow Down
Whether we’re driving, walking or making plans, snow slows us down. This can be an inconvenience, but it can also be a gentle redirection toward a more languid daily pace, a more focused set of “have to” tasks that leaves us with more time inside, warm and close with loved ones, looking within ourselves for the softer, slower thoughts that come when we’ve got nowhere else to go.
