The First Snow

"in civilization we try to combat winter. we try to modify it so that we can continue to live the same sort of life that we live in the summer. we plow the sidewalks so we can wear low shoes, and the roads so we can use cars. we heat every enclosed space and then, inadequately clad, dash quickly from one little pocket of hot air through a bitter of no-man's land of cold to another. we fool around with sun lamps, trying to convince our skins that it is really august, and we eat travel-worn spinach in an attempt to sell the same idea to our stomachs. naturally, it doesn't work very well. you can neither remodel nor ignore a thing as big as winter."

- louise dickinson rich, we took to the woods

I am one of those people who run into winter with open arms, ready to embrace it wholeheartedly. I love the cold, the layers, the skis, the skates, the shoveling, the snowman building, the bird and squirrel feeding and watching, the inside crafting and knitting, the popcorn and hot cocoa after every sled adventure.

The first snow. The gentle flakes drifting to the ground, covering the grays, browns and greens in sparkly white.

Embrace it. Love it, for it is surely here now. Welcome Winter, I have been waiting for you.