First Snowfall
winter moments of stillness, wonder, and delight
There is nothing like the silence of first snowfall to reset a soul.
Nothing like the feeling of the whole world pausing at the top of a deep breath, the impending slow exhale not yet formed into possibility. Stillness that takes on physical form and drapes itself across your consciousness. The sky has drawn near, heavy-light, gray-bright, and tucked itself around the edges of a world grown closer.
Snowflakes drift, uncompromisingly gathering every sound along their whispery pathways, laying a blanket of silence at your feet. And what a blanket! The stillness invites close examination, because tiny miracles are waiting, and now that they are still, you can soak them in!
Motion, frozen. A drop plucked from the stream of time, now set apart, stretched taut and mounted against thin air. The world in an icicle, the world through an icicle, every angle open to consideration for a long moment.
Just a little warmth sets time in motion again, but hesitantly. The drop, heavy with readiness to pursue its onward journey, pauses, collects one more spark of sunshine, stretches an instant into reflected infinity, and if you’re there, you can join it!
Simple delight, in its very purest form. In which you have done something for no other reason than happiness. And then you’ve watched, as that tiny offering of your happiness has been returned to you, happier still.
Your gift has been accepted, transformed - serendipitously, by forces beyond your control and quite at the margins of comprehension - and returned a new gift, in which your whole responsibility is simply to notice it and to be delighted.*
The snow has come. A winter world awaits. Take a moment to take it all in :)
Summer bubbles are a brilliant source of winter fun! I can’t remember which Mainer mentioned it to us that first winter on the homestead, but I am hooked for life :) Once the temperature drops below about 20℉, bubbles freeze mid-air. I like a sunny, still day, so that the bubbles we blow stay nearby, floating and crystallizing right before our eyes. Some burst into sparkle-puffs, while others drift to rest on snowbanks or fir branches or someone’s hat. It’s endlessly delightful, and I hope you have the chance to try it one day!
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Ah, this is making me long for a snowfall.
so gorgeous--I became obsessed with the snow last winter--we had more than most winters in Anchorage, and again this year...and read about the early photographers of snow, the woman who made snowflakes into art, and the work of Ukichiro Nakaya. It's just magical, the transformation and ephemerality of snow. Love these images. ❄️