12.18.15  It started with a single flake in the beginning, and by morning, four inches or so had covered the ground.  It took awhile to drive into town on icy roads, but everyone in my yoga class kept whispering to their neighbor, “look out the window!”.  By mid-afternoon, the beautiful golden light of the sun, barely above the horizon, cut through the trees in our woods.  The kitties and I walked around together, looking for those shafts of light, and they kept me company while I shoveled the stone steps out to the driveway, with shards of snow dazzling in the sunshine above us.

The skiers are euphoric.  I was happy to learn that the nearby state forest land has enough snow now to set track for nordic skiing.  It’s the kind of skiing I enjoy–relatively flat with twisting paths through the tall trees, and it even has a little bridge over a little stream.  Most week days, there are only a few people on the trails, so I can stop anytime I want and listen to the wind in the trees and watch clumps of snow crash down through the branches.  The groomer reported trail conditions on their website this morning, and cautioned that skiers should bring bear spray, as a grizzly bear is still foraging for food!  That’s an excuse for me to just wait awhile before I get my skis out!

There is new snow again on this early morning, and the forecast calls for day after day of more snow and cold temperatures in the week to come.  Christmas is nigh.

“Out of Nothing” by Tom Hennen

Snow began slowly.  Only one flake fell all morning.  it was talked about by everyone as they gathered for coffee.  It brought back memories of other times.  Dreams of ice skates, long shotguns waving at geese, cities lighting up somewhere off the horizon in the cold gray day.  Only one snowflake, but it fell with the grace of a star out of the ragged air.  It filled the day with a clarity seldom noticed.  It stood out sharply as a telephone pole against the skyline of the winter we each keep to ourselves.