Wednesday, December 15, 2004

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

To the dapper young fella who held the door open for me this morning as we stepped out into a winter wonderland -- thank you. We were both rushing out of the garage, in a hurry to get to our warm, stuffy offices. But the moment we stepped out into a curtain of the white fluffy stuff, the office didn't seem all that important. You started whistling "Dashing through the snow", and at first I was a little annoyed by the cheesiness of it. But then we had one of those moments ... nothing weird or romantic or cosmic or anything like that. We just both looked away from the mesmerizing white stuff and at each other and I felt a connection. Just a quick moment of connecting with another person, in a brief epiphany where we each realized that this was what it was all about. The magic of the wintertime, the sheer, silly delight that something as simple as snow can bring. I'm sure as you went your way and I went mine, we couldn't help but travel back through the memories to thoughts of building snowmen with the kids from the neighborhood. Snowball fights and the unpleasant feeling of snow somehow finding its way into your boots (even though every inch of your body was covered by your snowsuit, hat, scarf, gloves, and whatever else your mother thought was necessary to prohibit much freedom of movement).

Even now as I gaze out my office window at the little white flakes floating through the air, I can't help but feel a certain happiness. Even though I'm all grown up and can't exactly run outside and start building snowmen in the middle of downtown, the winter brings back this part of me that is full of excitement and joy. I watched my dogs as I walked them this morning, and they absolutely LOVE the snow. They tackle each other and roll around in it, they stick their noses in it, and they eat it as they run through the soft stuff. They're like little kids. They don't complain that they're cold, even if they're turning blue and can't stop shivering. They want more. They want to play. And even if I don't run and play (and tackle other people), I like watching it. I don't think I can ever live somewhere where there's NO snow at all. If I have children someday, I want them to experience the joy of bundling up so much that they can't even move, and running out into the snow to build a snowman or pelt their mom with a snowball.

I certainly don't need lots of snow, and I'm not sure I need the cold that comes with it ... but there's something magical about stepping outside into a curtain of white. So for now, let it snow.

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