Fun With Snow

Another half foot of snow, at least, fell at the cabin last week, enough that I had to shovel out part of the driveway before I could get my car in. On the front deck huge piles of snow had fallen from the roof, while the back deck, which is more protected from winds, had at least a foot of snow. I don’t mind the shoveling; in fact, I’ll take any excuse to be out in the snow.

I love the snow, especially when it’s fresh, before it gets windblown and dirty. When the sun is out, the combination of warmth from the sun mixing with the cold and moisture seeping up from the snow is invigorating. Snowshoeing in Glacier Gorge in Rocky Mountain National Park last week, I never wanted to stop. Coming back down, I got off the path and plowed through the deep snow, feeling like a kid again, breaking through this soft, yielding material that feels like nothing else. It’s like getting permission to have fun. I’ve noticed that when adults suddenly find themselves in snow, they start making snowballs or throw themselves down into the soft stuff to make snow angels.

I like how the snow changes the landscape, exaggerating the shapes underneath it, so they become something else, almost something humorous, like the wooden chair next to the shed (below), which looks a little pregnant with the new snow. The snow enlarges and softens boulders, making the hard outlines of the rock into something totally different—soft with voluptuous curves. It dresses up the pine trees and turns the Bill Waite cabin across from my cabin into a gingerbread house. It softly distorts the straight outlines of the fences (left) and creates white baubles in the aspen trees. On the creek, it etches the open circles of water in blue and white.

A couple of weeks ago, I saw the Martin Scorsese movie, Hugo, and I loved the scenes of Paris at night covered in snow. With the 3-D effects, the snow comes drifting out into the audience, and you remember how beautiful falling snow is, how it’s been celebrated in art, in movies, in Christmas cards, in advertisements for Coca-Cola. And then I remember how, almost anytime in Colorado in winter, I can just walk outside and experience it. Aren’t I lucky.

Comments

[shoney]

What a lovely piece on snow--the beauty and fun of snow! I agree that snow is best when it is fresh, before it gets crusty and dirty and icy. Wonderful photos!

[Jeffrey Willius]

Hi Kathy - I love your blog! I don't get back often enough, but am always glad when I come -- this post on snow is wonderful. Don't you wonder what someone who'd never seen even a photo of snow would think about it? Wonder!

[Kathy Kaiser]

Good question, Jeffrey. I imagine someone who never saw snow would think it was magical, from just looking at the photos.

[Julene]

"By the end of my walk, I felt that everything was just as it should be and thus perfect." This quote from one of your earlier posts seems to sum up the core insight that inspires this blog. I always take comfort from that insight. It reminds me to slow down and take time for walks and nature. A little time outdoors, really looking (as you do here, at the snow) or taking a walk almost invariably improves my mood and makes me okay with "what is."