Thursday, March 28, 2024

The magic of a snowfall can sometimes transcend its inconvenience

Posted

I’VE BEEN THINKING

 

 

Carol Goodman Heizer is an author who moved to Hood County from Louisville, Kentucky in 2019. She has had short stories and articles published in six editions of “Chicken Soup for the Soul” books. Her column for the Hood County News will appear every two weeks. She was a public school teacher for 17 years, earlier in her professional career.

 

Many Hood County residents have lived all their lives in southern climates where snowfall is a rare occurrence. However, some of us have come from northern areas where we either loved or hated the white stuff. If you are one of the southern folks, try to imagine what your life would have been like during snowstorms. If you hailed from the north, take a short trip down memory lane with one who absolutely loved snow.

We crawl out of bed, stumble outdoors to gather up our morning newspaper, and open it in hopes of finding positive headlines. But Mother Nature has left us a surprise package. Covering our neighborhood is a beautiful blanket of freshly fallen snow. Our reaction to the gift will depend not only on our chronological age, but also on our age of mind and spirit.

As children, our hearts race with enthusiasm as we envision snowball battles with friends. Our sense of creativity begins to grow as we imagine ways to “dress” our snowman or snowlady that will soon be taking shape. We also go into the house to find articles of clothing, along with a carrot for the nose and stones for the eyes. After all, we would not want our snow people to be cold or not have facial features like the rest of us.

We look for a proper place to create our first “snow angel.” You’ve never made a snow angel? Oh, it’s wonderful fun! Step to a place where the snow has not been disturbed, lie on your back, and move your arms and legs outward in a flying manner. As if magic, the image of a perfect angel appears, and you stand in quiet appreciation.

As you leave your snow angel imprint, brush the snow back so that all traces of footprints are gone, and enjoy the sight! However, don’t try to make a snow angel with your pet. It usually ends in disaster.

As adults, we often see a snowfall in quite a different frame of mind. We moan as we offer words of disappointment for another frustrating drive to work in the morning rush-hour traffic. We anticipate the frustration of sitting in traffic and reorganizing our business meeting for which we are going to be late.

You’ve never been late for a meeting because of snow?

Oh, it’s dreadfully mortifying! Be the last one to enter the room and weakly ask, “Sorry I’m late. Did you see that snow?” We educated adults certainly ask some feeble-minded questions sometimes, don’t we? Did they see the snow … as if they somehow arrived in that meeting room through interspace travel, completely oblivious to the surrounding whiteness.

We humans, however, are not the only living creatures who relish a fresh snowfall. Even Mother Nature recognizes the magic of snow as she gives us the beautiful gray and brown spotted snow leopard whose summer home is at 13,000 feet or higher.

Or perhaps we have seen the little sparrow-like snow bunting. We see this flying friend only when he leaves Canada in the spring when the North American snowfall is heavy enough to accommodate him. They are such tiny little things, weighing between 1 and 2 ounces, and they live in such cold climates.

In the plant world, Mother Nature offers us the snowball shrub called snow-on-the-mountain, and the snowdrop flower. When snow still covers the earth in early spring, we find the little crocus flowers pushing up their heads to greet us for yet another season.

Thus, as we adults consider the many ramifications of fallen snow, we can take a break from the reality of wet boots, slippery roads, slushy sidewalks, highway salt, and inconvenience. May we step back into the child-like magic of a new snowfall.

I truly miss the magic of the sudden gift of 36 inches of Thanksgiving snowfall in northeastern Ohio. I also loved the completely unpredicted, overnight snowfall of 22 inches of fresh snow in Louisville, Kentucky. While I enjoyed the snow’s beauty, I did regret the merchants’ dilemma that brought the entire metro area to a complete standstill for nearly a week.

Maybe again … some day … in Hood County? At least a little snowfall?

cgheizer@gmail.com