Snow! · 25 January 2007
That white stuff out in the back yard is a wonderful reminder that winter is here. Walking in it is peaceful because of how it looks and feels and how it dampens the sound of the world around us. Even just looking at it out the window is peaceful and calming. I love to watch as it floats down to the ground ever so gently in a light storm and even how it blows and causes all to go white in a big storm. I love the snow. At least when it is in the backyard.
Wouldn’t it be nice if snow could stay off the roads? I can imagine a world where the snow fell everywhere but on the roads. In that world, there would be no need for snowplows or even snow shovels. People could go to work and school with no worries about whether the roads were safe.
Commuters would not need to leave early during inclement weather because the snow would not be falling on the roads. The only trouble they would have would be getting distracted by the blizzard around them or getting lulled to sleep at the wheel by the peaceful snowfall coming down around them but not on the streets. Traffic would not be snarled by the weather but merely by the normal circumstances of driving.
Students would not need to worry about whether or not school was cancelled because the busses would always be running. The only challenges they would have is getting in trouble when they had snowball fights at school even after the principal told them too many times to “Put the snowball down!”
Then again, if the snow was somehow restricted from falling on the roads, it would need to fall somewhere. Houses and yards would be covered with two or three times as much snow in densely populated areas because of the snow missing the streets. I guess that would be okay. Kids could stay indoors or play on the roads instead of building snowmen and having snowball fights because the snow was too deep in the yard. Getting in the car just to escape a snowbound home might be the only form of entertainment “outside” if the snow did not fall on the roads. Maybe a world where snow was restricted from falling on the roads is not such a good idea.
I like complaining as much as the next person so maybe it is better to just let the snow fall on the roads and have something to talk about with people around me. Maybe it is best just to let nature run its course. Maybe we should just enjoy it or complain about it depending on which gives us the greatest pleasure.
From my own selfish perspective, I still love the snow. I still love the way it falls and leaves the earth looking fresh and clean. I still love the silence as I stand alone in the middle of a field of snow. And even though school has been cancelled and we will be going to school until who knows when, I still love the snow and all the wonder it brings.
If we are still in school in July though, don’t ask me then whether I still love the snow.
© 2007 Michael T. Miyoshi
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Published 25 January 2007 in The RiverCurrentNews
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