The first snowflake of the year ALWAYS makes me giddy with excitement….I love to watch it snow.  I love the really big storms.  I love hearing the wind whip the snow and make it fall sideways.  I love driving in it….at night…and flipping between high and low beams….just so you know?  When the high beams are on?  I pretend I am in a space ship…some might say I am weird…others might get tired of snow…and cold weather…but there is nothing better than being the first to leave tracks (foot prints or tires)…and:

• SNOW ANGELS!
• Cross country skiing with your favorite mellow music (or none at all)…there is peace in the silence.
• Standing still, in the dark of a snowy evening (the gentle snow….)
• SNOWMEN!
• Caroling in the snow….
• I don’t enjoy shoveling, but what a workout!
• snow forts and snowball fights!
• Sledding!

Now…I listen to a radio station that plays NOTHING BUT CHRISTMAS  after Thanksgiving.  They are starting to play a few Christmas tunes now, interspersed with the regular music….

Anyone else feel conflicted during the holidays? I LOVE the season.  I love the JOY, and PEACE.  I love the REASONS we celebrate….But I also miss my mom (her LAST Christmas was our BEST Christmas)…I miss my Dad who passed away on December 10, 2007…I miss Kerry’s Dad…and this year the holidays will be the first without him…I miss the HOME where we celebrated the holidays for 21 years….and the familiarity of the house and traditions we had….and the music brings it all back.

So, before I go back to the interruption of March 7, 2014….I wanted to express my exuberance for SNOW FLAKES…all of them…whether they fall gently and silently, or wind-whipped and fast….snow reminds me that there is peace in the storm…and when it’s over?  Everything is new.  Crisp.  Beautiful…….