Could it be?....YES!

Last night after looking out my window, I just knew I had to be outside. Could it be? Was it ..... SNOWING? Yes! I got my winter gear on an headed out for a walk in the crisp, late night air.

I walked a little ways from my house and stood in the driveway with my face turned up to the skys just to feel the cold flakes fall on my face. As I started walking, I heard the crunch of new fallen snow under my shoes. I was soon looking at the snow collecting on top of the branches of the trees. It was coming down fast.

I walked towards the local park and its walking paths through the woods. Everything was quiet and still around me. The only noise was my footfalls. I sat down in the snow to take in the quiet and found myself grinning at nothing. I was happy that we finally had two decent snowfalls in Minnesota during the last week.

As I sat there listening to nothing, I realized just how much I have missed the snow this year. It's not that we haven't had any up until this point, but what we have had hasn't lasted long. My lawn was brown last Friday. Now the whole neighborhood and surrounding parks areas are a winter wonderland. And it is beautiful.

When I looked down at the sleeve of my coat, I realized that I could see the patterns of the individual snowflakes. Due to what I saw, I realized that I have really never paid any attention to individual flakes before. The harsh lines and angles of the crystalline forms made me lean in closer for a better look. I quickly realized my mistake as my warm breath caused the flake to melt in about half a second.

Seeing the flake melt was a interesting experience. Have you ever watched a snowflake melt before? The tines melted first and looked as if they were shrinking into the main body of the flake until all that was left was a tiny bead of liquid. Such a simple thing had me transfixed. Why had I not paid attention to this before?

I don't think I had given myself the chance to do so before. As our world rushes by, who has the time to sit and watch snowflakes melt? And who has the time to care? This was why I liked the snow and why I had missed it: when it snows, our world slows down just enough for us to start paying attention to things a little closer. And that was just what happened last night.