Friday, December 13, 2013

Snowless December?

Strange. This is not the kind of winter that I've known since I came here. Not a snow on the ground in December! Hard to believe. Are my eyes playing tricks on me?

This is how this season usually looks like here:





Okay, we did have a blanket of snow last week that remained intact, making me believe that it was here to stay. And then, only this Monday, thick clusters of snowflakes came falling for several hours. The white blanket thickened and transformed into an immaculately soft wool, which is the yearly costume of our city in this season.






And then, last Wednesday, a winter storm spilled liquid all over the place, thawed away the snow and left the ground  with clear ice coating. Aww...so slippery!

Today, the whiteness is gone, along with the ice. The green grass has reemerged and coated with frost. The streets and walkways have dried up. So is the air, which went back below zero. The sun was out the whole day and the sky was clear, though not deep blue, just pale blue.

So this is December this year. Devoid of snow. What was it I said again regarding the absence of the rowan berries in my post HERE ? I think that portended this present condition. I know there will come more snow later. This month though? I hope so too, sooner or later.

This is a bit disappointing, but I'm not complaining at all. True, I'm enamoured with lots of snow but the absence of it doesn't turn me off. There are still lovely things around to immerse myself into. Little things that the untrained eyes cannot see nor a closed heart and mind can embrace. They're literally everywhere, from under our feet to the sky over our head. It's just a matter of seeing through an aesthetic eye.


























Who cannot be awed by such beauty found in these "simple" things that are present even in "unpleasant places"?

"Look! These are the fringes of his ways,
And what a whisper of a matter has been heard of him!
But of his mighty thunder who can show an understanding?”
- Job 26:14

So...with or without snow in December, I know that I will keep floating in cheerfulness among the snowflakes that fall within the scope of my imagination. This in itself  is a gift from a loving Creator.