Shhhhhhh

Today I would like to talk about snow. Not the whining, whimpering, complaining that I have been doing a lot of this winter, but I’d like to look at it from a different angle if you don’t mind too much. However, before I do that, I had better get the whining and whimpering off of my chest or I will explode.

Really? More fucking snow! C’mon! You would think that Mother Nature would let the city at least get started on cleaning my street before dumping another few inches/centimetres on the ground. It is supposed to warm up to double digits by the weekend and hopefully it will melt a large part of this mess unless the weatherman decides to send more snow and cold instead. Okay, I feel a little better now.

It was snowing those big, fluffy, wet kind of flakes that we rarely get in Alberta and are more used to falling in Ontario. Normally, I am thankful we don’t get that kind of flake because although they are pretty, they are also quite heavy and difficult to move off of sidewalks and stairs. They are perfect for walking in though.

Big, wet flakes come when the temperature is close to 0° C, so it is nice weather to be out and about. One thing I love about the snow is that it coats everything and brings softness to the world that can’t be achieved any other way. There are no straight lines, just gentle curves that lead the eye from one white mound to the next. It is a world of light, without colour, kind of like being in an old time black and white movie.

The other thing I love about a new snowfall is the quiet it brings. The world seems to be holding its collective breath, waiting for just the right time to exhale. When you first walk out, everything is muffled. There are birds, but they are generally sitting on wires waiting for the snow to stop. In the distance, just on the edge of hearing, you can almost hear the world going about its business…almost. Cars will drive by but the sound from the tires on the snow is just a muffled crunch and the engine noise stops somewhere before it gets to you. I suspect that if someone had called out to me, the words would have fell to the ground like the heavy wet flakes.

I wonder if anyone has tried to record an album in a snowfall. There certainly wouldn’t be any external sounds contaminating the music. Sure, there would be cold fingers and snotsicles to deal with, but I would like to hear that recording. It would be kind of a muffled noise that is close to being heard, but not quite.

I do like to walk in the snow. Today, I had the impression that Mother Nature was just out of sight around the corner, with her finger held up to her lips. Shhhhhhhhh!