Hark! Here in D.C. we are in the midst of a "historic" snowfall. I witnessed its auspicious arrival last night as I headed out of my building to take in a private concert of Last Train Home with some friends. The magic was beginning.
My urban neighborhood transformed into a Dickensian village, with the early snowcover affirming the promise of the accumulation to come.
There's a mystical quality to a good snowfall. I am transported into the tranquil space of a snowglobe, where for the briefest moment, all is calm and indeed, all is bright!
Snowfall in a place like D.C. somehow bends the relativity of time. Like an amusement park ride that begins slowly and then inexplicably accelerates and swirls with twists and turns, jerking forward, and then just as suddenly slowing... time can be flying by faster than Santa in his sleigh until.... SNOWFALL! And then, blessedly, time stops. The hush of snowfall quiets everything and everyone. It is a universal permission slip for all to stop, to rest (0bserve the glee of local newscasters on a snowday with the irrepressible enthusiasm of children). On a snowday, time unfolds and I have the sensation that I have all time in front of me. In "snow time" I see beauty in the frozen tundra around me, like this leaf I found on my windowsill this morning! For me, a good snowfall is as much a call to playfulness as to rest. What will I do with myself I wonder, as though I have all the time in the world. Where to begin? I might go outside and go sledding! Maybe I will break out my watercolors that I haven't seen for seven years and paint! Maybe I will curl up with a book and read! Maybe I will go on a snowman hunt (shooting only with a camera of course - no snowpeople will be harmed). The spirit plays, and rests, on a snowday. But this blanket of quiet space is fleeting. Soon, the roar of the snowplows comes and of necessity erases the quiet sanctuary provided by impassable roads. The demands of life begin to intrude again and one can feel life accelerating anew... In this glorious snowfall, may you see beauty. May you play! May you dwell, for an expansive moment, in the peaceful refuge of your own wondrous snowglobe. And emerge renewed, with a new resiliency, when the spell wears off. Let it snow! #snowday #ahainsight #playtime #resilience