January 10, 2011

  • 1.10.2011

    I find it miraculous that hours after I wrote to myself about how drab everything had been lately, a full on ice storm strikes the city. Minutes after I received the e-mail that informed me that my classes and clinicals were cancelled today, I heard the clinking of ice outside.  Eventually, the ice became soft, glittering snow.  I was peering out the back window when I saw one giant, fluffy snowflake fall lazily down.. but the ground looked completely normal.  I thought nothing of it.  But minutes later, Rephe asked me to look outside the front window.  Under the streetlights, my entire apartment complex was glittering and soft.  Snow was falling heavily, being pushed this way and that by inconsistent winds..

    I remember once having been asked what the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen was.  My answer, of course, changes often, since as a person, I'm inconsistent, but at the time, my answer had been something like this:  when I was little, and in Michigan, walking outside after a giant snowstorm.  The air was very still, and the sky was clear, and there was snow packed several inches tall all around, untouched.  In the light, it glittered.  Like a wonderland.  Or like a dream.  Just soft, pure, white, glittering beauty...

    Of course, I had to make tracks in the snow.  By the time I went back inside, they were filling in again, ready to be made fresh in the morning.  I made a tiny, pathetic snowball, and jumped around for several minutes.  I'd run outside initially in just a dress.  XD I had to go back inside to throw a giant sweater awkwardly on top of it, and trade my sandals out for tennis shoes.  Strangely, even though I've been in the south now for over ten years, I handled the cold just as I did in Michigan- as soon as I see snow, I don't even feel it.  I didn't notice my hands going numb, or the shivering.  I just flailed around, peered up at the falling snow while it assaulted my face, made snow angels....

    I hope I find the time to get outside and take proper pictures during the daylight.  This is precisely why I'm determined to live in the north.  I suspect that "snow" is my natural habitat..

    I woke to see the snow melting from the rooftops, dripping into icicles, which is enchanting in its own way.  The sidewalks and pavement were shoveled off by somebody, so the complex looks extremely pristine and charming... and the snow, for the most part, looks completely untouched.   I imagine that once the children start waking up, they'll wreak their own chaos into it.  I'd better get out there and reserve my own chaos before then. 

    My body's in a lot of pain right now, though, so first, some rest~