A Shifting Perspective on Winter

As I’ve gotten older, my feelings about snow seem to have changed. Yes, as one ages, ice and the threat of falling often are top of mind. But each year I find myself increasingly wonder-struck at the crystalline elegance of snow.

My friend the writer Paul Gillies once wrote that snow “covers the roughness of the earth.” And it does so with a dazzling mantle whose colors change depending on your time of day and/or angle of vision. It can take a simple, comely private residence and transform it into a spectacular sculpture garden. (Click on the image to enlarge it.)

I know that sleet, slush, wind and ice are always stalking us this time of year. But, few things in nature are as beautiful as a sunny, 20-degree day with a new coat of the powdery white stuff blanketing our landscape. Kind of a miracle, isn’t it?