Sunday Snowfall

Last night it was raining, sleet, cold, harsh.  I fell into sleep just wanting to be unconscious and not aware of the world around me for a while.  While the holidays are a time of thankfulness and joy, it is still nice to have a deep sleep of peace and quiet.

This morning I awoke to silence.  Not just quiet, but silence.  The kind of silence that can only be had through a snowfall that muffles the outside world.  I drew back my blinds to reveal the beginning stages of our snowy Sunday.

I took the dog outside, who still seems confused when it snows.  The large flakes softly landed on her black coat and contrasted nicely for a few seconds before dissolving into her hide.  On our way back into the house, the sight of my own snow prints brings a memory from childhood back to the forefront of my mind:

In Juneau, as a kid, I would sometimes wake-up very early for no reason.  In the winter, the snow blankets everything.  The entirety of snowfalls there made the landscape an almost perfect white, and the reflection of the snow would make things appear more light than normal at such an early hour.  At times like this, with massive snowflakes the size of silver dollars, I would bundle-up and go for a walk.  The silence of it all is what I remember most.  Just walking, the soft crunch of snow compacting under my boot step.  The only other sounds were the fluffy snowflakes landing and my own breath as I trodded through it all.  It was so peaceful.  No one else out at all...no signs that anyone else was around.  Just pure white snow and the steam from my hands.  I would walk through the cemetery, zigzag through neighborhoods, or sometimes walk by the water.  In a town completely asleep, I was the only one awake.  On my return home, I would sometimes come across my own snow print from earlier in my journey.

So now, on the couch with coffee and fresh bread for breakfast, I sit nuzzled into the corner of my couch chewing on this childhood memory as the snow falls outside and the world around me slowly starts to wake-up.