Suspended in Air



 

It is snow
Beautiful
Crystals
Frozen in motion
It is snow

Okay that actually might be defined as ice
I didn't grow up with snow. Whenever we happened to visit our grandparents over the winter months, we would say: "I hope it snows!" Grandmother would say to us: "Don't say that too loudly, nobody else wants it to snow yet."

Snow is magical. One moment the whole scenery is a mix of greens, browns, reds, blacks, and blues, then suddenly it is all white. There is a bit of color here and there, but the majority is white. It is like the land has been turned into a magical land.


In the snow, you get to see secrets that you may not have noticed as easily. As I walked along the road, I saw deer tracks that had run from one forest entrance to the other. There were dog tracks and shoe tracks. Who would have known that a person had decided to walk their dog that morning, except that the snow recorded their history. I even saw some bird tracks. They hopped here and there. But surprising they stopped and decided to turn around. I wondered what went through the bird's mind. Yet without the snow and its careful record, we would have never known that a bird could be indecisive. 


Then there are the icicles, which many people would probably argue is not snow. 

But they must be related. 

Perhaps they are cousins. 

They are movement. 

Recorded movement


Have you ever watched a leaf fall to the ground? What path did it take? Icicles are the frozen path of the snow, melted by the sun, dripping down the leafy branch. Depending on how long the snow had worked its magic, depends on how well the movement was recorded. Sometimes you can see its shimmery curves caused by the wind blowing it out of course. Other times you see its arrow straight path going down to earth as it follows the law of gravity to the extreme.

Someone recently told me: "Most of your life, you have been sprinting in a race. Maybe now it is time to slow down to a walk." While I was walking the snowy steep road, I closely watched the footprints in front of me. Some places they were normal, like the size of an average sized man. Other times they were very long, like they had met with an undesired foe. In places like those, I knew that it would be wise to walk a bit more slowly and plant my feet down more firmly in order to not end up as they had.

Snow has a great tendency to slow life down. A wise woman who knew snow like the back of her hand commented: "Even people who are used to snow, will end up in the ditch if they forget they are not on the normal summer roads."

The question then arises: Am I moving too fast to not see and record the little joys and mountain tops happening in my life? Am I going too fast because I want to arrive at my final destination in a hurry?

Who wants to end up in a ditch? You can't see much in a ditch, especially if your windshield is covered in snow. It is in the ditch where you know longer see your destination. It takes so much longer to get out and back on the road.

Perhaps it is good to be like the snow.

Slow down

Have a goal in mind

But also record the lessons and sights along the way

In this way, by the time you reach your destination, you will have many pictures and experiences to remember and follow later in life

Like...

Bird tracks that decided to change their mind

Or

The path of water frozen by the wind

Or perhaps even

A snowflake suspended in space





I like to find stories in unlikely places and connect them with unlikely subjects. Here are stories and analogies that I see as I travel around the world.

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