Jan 14th, 2022 Friday Cloudy with a few flurries
Do you like snowy days?
When I was asked that as a kid, the answer is “yes!” because snow means snowball fight, building a snowman (though I have never succeeded in that in my childhood), and all the marvelous things that you can only do in snow. Snow changes the look of the whole world, as if by a magical paintbrush. How exciting!
When I was asked that as a student in elementary school, middle school, or high school, the answer is “no!” because all the outdoor activities at school were put on a halt, and we were told to spend time studying in the classroom instead. When all the attention was on countless exercises, quizzes, and other assignments, it did not really matter whether the campus was covered in white or gray.
When I was asked that in college, the answer is “sort of” because on one hand, the snow made riding my bike difficult and dangerous, so I was forced to walk in between different campus buildings during the short breaks, and I did not like muddy shoes 😛 On the other hand, occasionally when I was not in a rush for class, I would take a stroll by the lake in the north of my campus, and the view was poetic. “From hill to hill no bird in flight; from path to path no man in sight. A lonely fisherman afloat, is fishing snow in a lonely boat” perfectly captured the sense of vast solitude at that moment.
If you ask me that now, the answer is going to be “yes, but not every day”. I find that when it snows, the world quiets down, as if the volume of the constant daily hustle background music has been turned down a notch. Even wild animals take shelter to rest (maybe except for some tireless squirrels looking for the walnut supper that they buried a while ago). It seems like the perfect time to meditate, reflect, and store energy for a spring day. I enjoy taking a pause if I can, and I appreciate this opportunity to slow down, just a little bit, absorbing the world as it is, and reconnecting with my inner self. If this happens every day, then it might be too much reflecting and not enough productivity (and I may be fired :P). No animal should stay in hibernation for ever.
A timely snow promises a good harvest. Only after the repose during snowy days, comes the energy to sprout and grow.