The first good snowfall (6.5 inches) hit our area this week.
I did not have to go out and face the elements. I have the luxury of staying
home and observing from my warm and dry house. Spending time looking out the
window at the gorgeous drape of the landscape my mind wandered into snows of
the past.- Playing in the school yard in first grade. Dragging my feet through the snow in my little red galoshes meant to keep my shoes and feet dry.
- Struggling to get the middle ball on the snow man. Flakes were light but snow was heavy.
- Sled riding on our street. We had a lovely valley so you could go down one side and rise on the second side. There was always competition for distance achieved on the second hill.
- My sister’s sled crashing into a bush and breaking her little finger.
- At age 10 walking to Sunday Mass in the center of the Dixie Highway whose four lanes provided the only direct route from Michigan to Florida and back. We had to do a lot of high stepping but we did not have to dodge any cars.
- Also walking about 4 miles home from high school at the completion of January exams. That may have been the coldest I have ever been.
- At eighteen being unable to stop the station wagon and running into the rear end of a truck waiting at a stop sign. (Somebody left out of my training to gear down in such circumstances.) No one was hurt.
I invite you to choose something and do the same.Several years ago a friend gave me a card showing little purple crocus blossoms coming up through the snow. A hymn from Isaiah (35) reads: The wilderness and dry lands shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing. The crocus I pray about comes up through the snow and it is beautiful and I am glad.
Dear Sister thank for this wonderful sharing of memories -- his garment white as snow, they all describe it differently. Why is that? Snow was such a miracle to the ancient fathers that it is good thing, as Isaiah says, though to be honest I don't like it, the beauty of the whiteness is good for a moment but the fingers and toes complain bitterly. Precious early memories to keep and revisit. Thank you God for these memories, especially when I felt your love for me real and true, felt from mother and father, family and friends, keep this always for me O Lord, amen. God bless OSB amen. Happy New Year! Merry Christmas!
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