It’s just after the middle of April, and as I write this it is snowing. Again. And not a small amount. It started light, then got heavy, then a kind of medium snowfall, then heavy again. It has been steady all day. Despite being bright outside, it’s kind of depressing. After all, we just had Easter – which, I might add, was not exactly early this year. It’s spring! As much as I talk about “It’s okay – it’s a spring snow, it won’t stick.” when people complain about the snow in the spring, I’m tired of it. We had some lovely spring weather – false spring we call it here – and I – probably along with many other people – foolishly believed that it was here to stay. According to the forecast last week, it was supposed to be lovely this week. And yet here we are.
We need the moisture. The farmers need it, my plants need it… but come on. Enough already. We should have already had this and been past it now. I can’t do anything about it, so as I looked outside while washing the dishes in the morning, I looked at the snow on the bushes and on the decorative grass. It’s beautiful. It really is. So, I tried to see the beauty of it instead of thinking about the fact that it means I can’t plant my sweet pea seeds this week as I had planned.
Then I saw something run into the yard. It took me by surprise and it took me a second to figure out what it was. It was brown and kind of skinny. A cat? And then I realized it was a rabbit. The poor bunny has already changed from white to brown because, well, we had nice weather and should be past this by now. It didn’t stay long. Sniffed around a bit and left. It was probably looking for something to eat, but the grass is covered with snow. Unless, of course, it had already munched on our tulips because the grass is covered in snow.
As you can tell, I’m having trouble staying with seeing the beauty of it. Even the little birds who are normally busy flitting around and cheeping outside my office window are staying inside. But… my office, which in the spring does double duty as a bit of a greenhouse, has some life in it. I started some tomatoes and lavatera – a beautiful flower that looks like a hibiscus – from seed and while they haven’t all made it, most of them have. In late May I will be able to start putting them outside, but for now they get babied inside. And the most dramatic of the life in my office is one of our orchids. The first bud bloomed just in time for Easter. The second one is opening as I write this. It is fascinating to watch as it opens more and more through the day. So, while I have trouble continuing to see the beauty of the snow, there is beauty here. And really, there is beauty all around us. Sometimes we have to look harder than others, but it’s there.
When it snows like this and I am able to be inside, it makes me want to snuggle up with a big cup of hot chocolate in front of the fireplace channel on TV – a good substitute for those of us who don’t actually have a fireplace – and make cinnamon buns. Nesting? I don’t know, but somehow I always want to make cinnamon buns. I rarely do it, but the snow makes me want to settle in and get cozy.
You may have heard of the concept of the hygge (pronounced hoo-gah) lifestyle. It is Danish and according to visitdenmark.com it translates to coziness and means creating a warm atmosphere and enjoying the good things in life with good people. Doesn’t it sound wonderful?
In the end, I didn’t make cinnamon buns, but I did put on my cozy slippers, get a cup of tea, and get under a blanket on the couch. And since it was right after Easter there was a lot of chocolate in the house, which may have been to my detriment, but it sure helped make the day feel cozy.
The next day…
It is bright and sunny outside, the sun reflecting off of the snow. The birds are busy flitting and cheeping again, enjoying the sun. In the end, we got 11 inches of snow at our house. More than what was officially reported, probably less than what some people had, and much, much more than what the other end of the city saw. It is melting, and while I hope it doesn’t melt too fast so it isn’t too messy outside, the much needed moisture will soak into the ground, the grass will start to turn green again, and things will start to grow.
It is easier to see some of the beauty of the snow today in the sunshine than it was yesterday when visibility was reduced, the roads were bad, and the branches on the trees and bushes were weighed down. And isn’t that how life is? It’s hard to see the beauty when we are weighed down in a difficult situation, but when the sun comes out again it’s easier to see it, even if we can only see a sliver of beauty. Sometimes we have to look hard. To make a real effort not to get stuck in the storm. To remember that the sun will come out again. It may take some time, but it will come out again.
