what God has provided for us, the changing of the seasons and what Mother Nature has
painted for us with a wave of her hand. As children, in the innocence of our youth we
were allowed to be carefree, playing in the snow. Looking around at the vast whiteness
and mounds of snow and imagining the forts we were going to build. We were now
explorers of the Arctic, engineers of tunnels and grand snow palaces. As adults we
have lost our youthfulness, imagination, and carefree views of what winter brought,
a freshness, a new beginning, and a season of change. We are bombarded with our
everyday responsibilities. Consumed with the troubles in the world today, politics, what
side should we be on, left or right. The images that the news cast of rioting, shootings,
scandals, war, death, wild fires, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, landslides, drought,
starving, kidnappings, abuse, homelessness, the list goes on and on. So much negativity
and sadness, and few positive, happy, and joyful images to renew our hearts and minds.
Close your eyes, take a deep breath and blow free from your mind all the responsibilities
of adulthood, all the ugly images in our world today that the media outlets portray,
what social media is streaming. I want to take you back to being a child once again and
waking up to that first big snowfall of the year.
Do you see it?
You are so excited you can hardly contain yourself, even as your mother is making
you a large hot breakfast to fill your belly as she knows it will be hours before she sees
you again once you’ve walked out the front door. You hurriedly put on the many layers
of clothing, long underwear first, your wool socks or even multiple socks. You crawl into
your snow suit, stocking cap, scarf, gloves and snow boots to follow. You want to beat
your siblings, to be the first outside to the winter wonderland. You fall backwards into
the fresh blanket of snow embracing it around you, and you begin to create your snow
angel. So very careful you get up, not to disturb your creation so that mom and dad
can look out the window and see your masterpiece. You look up at the heavens trying
to capture the snowflakes on your tongue and they cling to your eyelashes at the same
time blinding you ever so briefly. You march through the tracks in the snow following
your big brother or sister’s footprints trying to match each step with your own. Looking
for the best spot to build your snow fort and tunnels. You engage in a battle of, “King
of the mountain”, on top of the largest pile of snow that has been formed by the tractor
that dad is now using to free the driveway and making pathways to the barn in order to
get to the pens to feed and water the livestock on the farm. A snowball has hit you and
a war has now begun of snowballs being thrown from every direction, you take cover
and try to out smart your siblings. You grab your sled and race up the nearest hill taking
turns sliding down, giggling and trying to steer that sled with your younger brother or
sister in your lap, trying to keep the both of you from tipping over. You no longer feel
any cold as you have worked up a sweat from the constant movement of climbing and
sliding, climbing and sliding. You take turns rolling across every inch of the yard balls
of snow to build the biggest snow man that anyone has ever seen, even bigger than
last year. You put the youngest sibling in charge of gathering branches for arms, and
the other materials to make the face. Telling them to sneak back into the house for an
older scarf and hat that mom won’t miss. It is a group effort to lift the second and then
the third ball of snow up to piece your frosty together. You step back after all pieces
are in place and imagine him coming to life and dancing around with you. You ditch
your snow boots to be replaced with ice skates and the nearest pond now becomes your
skating ring. You are performing before an audience as the next Olympic ice skater,
spinning around and around and around. Never tiring, as free as a bird floating through
the air. Then that first winter’s day starts to come to an end as your parents holler for
you to come inside. Your imagination follows you back home, of all that you have
achieved that day, the characters you had become, the wars you fought, the forts you
engineered and the explorer of the new world that you were for the moment.
Open your eyes, did you see it, could you feel it again?
I challenge each and every one of you no matter how old you are, after the snow falls or
ice storm, the heavy morning frost that has arrived, to bundle up, get out and explore.
Whether by foot, snowshoeing, on a snowmobile or in your four-wheel drive truck. See
the beauty, the magical winter wonderland before you. Be that child of innocence and
imagination you once were and the harshness of winter that we see as adults won’t be
that miserable or dreadful of a season.