First snow

I love snow. I'm really not much for the cold, but if it's snowing, it kinda makes all the shivering and bundling up and nose-running worthwhile.

Today was one of those days. There was a perfect dusting of light flurries coming down all morning, making the air twinkle. It didn't stick at all, so I didn't have to worry about maniac drivers or cleaning off my car, and I could just enjoy the quiet beauty of the flakes landing (as they say) on my nose and eyelashes.

There's something about snow that makes me feel giddy and happy, like I'm a little kid again, wriggling with excitement to get into my snow pants and make snow angels and pick out the perfect carrot for my snowman's nose. I'm know I'm not the only one who feels this way. Everyone around me today seemed to perk up. Yes, it's cold outside --- but it's snowing! That makes it all better. I think we all have collective memories of happy snow days where we didn't have to go to school, of the novelty of seeing the world covered in white, of cocoa by the fire and cold ears and bright red cheeks.

It's a small kind of wonderful that that feeling never really goes away. Even in all of our staid, sensible adult lives, when it snows, we all get to feel like kids again. There's a joy to the snow, an innocence, that never really leaves us. Let's hope it never does.