Snow

veni, vidi, vici = I came, I saw, I conquered

Snow is here, a shocking sight considering everything yesterday was green. 
Yesterday was chilly.  Just a precursor to colder things to come.

I came from a warm place, and the first time I saw snow
I ran out into it with bare feet, not knowing how cold it would be.
I was only in it for a few minutes.
It was long enough to make my feet turn a bluish red color.
When I went indoors my parents put my feet and hands in warm water
to get rid of the bluish red color.
The warm water caused my cold hands and feet to hurt intolerably
as the circulation returned to them.

I wonder if this will be one of those winters with six foot snowdrifts
here in the valley?

I wonder how the pioneers who settled this place tolerated the winters
what they thought about, what they did, and how they prepared?

I used to like making snow angels.
I thought the big snowflakes looked like feathers dropped from
white wings drifting down.
I like the way light filtered through deep snowdrifts or ice
shimmers light blue, crystal blue.

One of my children has crystal blue eyes.

I think snow is beautiful, but I don't like it very much.

On the surface it is a joy to behold, but its substance is
so uncomfortable and unsafe. It can't be trusted.
It is inconsistent and unpredictable.  It comes and goes as it pleases.
It is cold and slippery.  It offers no refuge or comfort, but
offers instead, danger and death to those who are left to its mercy.
Its properties embody many of the qualities I wish never to find in
another person, least of all myself.

Some people have learned to be friends with the snow
I haven't yet. I accept it though.
I know the snow is necessary for certain things I love very much.
Snow is a blanket for the landscape,
and water storage for the plants that burst forth in the spring.
Snow is caused by coldness, and the cold makes apples sweeter.
I appreciate warmth and shelter more and
the people I love.
I like having less flies and mosquitoes around to torment me.
I love and need God more during the snowy season.
Sad but true.  Snow reminds me to pray.

I should only accept its blessings, thank the Lord for it and forget the other part.

Winter is begun and I am lonely for the spring.