First Snow 2019

Opening the curtain this morning . . .

. . . I sucked in my breath. The world had changed overnight. Covering everything — the branches of shrubs, the lawn that had been dotted with the last leaves of fall, the porch bench — was a wispy layer of white . . . just enough to mask the unfinished tasks of fall cleanup still to be done. Such stillness and perfection.

The first snow. It always brushes the landscape with forgiveness, covering even the rustiest, ugliest rake (left out and forgotten when dinner called) with soft white. What we might think of as imperfections dotting our yard — a fallen limb that remains from the wind storm earlier this week, dead flower stalks not yet cut down, the place in the garden fence that needs repair where the deer trampled it in search for veggies — such imperfections disappear beneath a white puff that covers it all.

This white beauty will disappear by noon when the sun returns. But for this moment, I marvel at the miracle an inch of frozen water can bring . . . and am grateful to the Creator who gave me eyes to see a white miracle.