Nature is in Charge

On Thursday, and I was driving to work following a large dump truck full of snow. I know it was full of snow because the snow was blowing off the truck, onto my car. It was my own personal snowstorm, which, after just dealing with around two feet of snow, I could have done without.

This past month has dumped an unusually huge amount of snow on us. It’s snow like I’ve never seen, dropping one –two feet of snow each week. We haven’t had a full week of school or work since the first week of January, and there are huge piles of snow everywhere. The shape of how we move around, indeed how we live, have all be changed by the snow.

This winter, nature is in charge.

It reminds me of last summer when the ash cloud was erupting and airports in Europe were closing and travelers were stranded. Since I wasn’t stranded, I felt sort of cavalier about it and said, “Hey, Nature is in charge, so make the most of it. Go explore a part of London you didn’t see the first time. Surrender to nature and see what you can discover.” Make the most of the way that nature has forced you to change the route of your life.

And I started to think that maybe I am missing something with the way snow is impacting us. It’s definitely been bruiser of a winter, but maybe if I can just surrender to the fact that nature is in charge, I can start to see it differently.

So I did. And I found that these snow days are creating something really lovely. We’re inside with no place where we can go so there is no place we need to be. We are forced into this small world of our house and our family and the smallness and slowness of that creates discoveries that you might miss if you blew past them on a normal day.

Small little details like the way my daughter E’s head bounces up and down as she and the Beatles sing “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” How I can recognize the Cardinal singing his chirpy song before I even see his flashy red self . The way the wet and dry ingredients combine to make chocolate chip cookies. How roasting a chicken warms the house in ways that heat alone never could. The way E does 15 “pick a card any card” tricks and on the 16^th try, I got say, “Yes!! That is my card!’ How naps are more healing when it’s snowing out.

Today, it’s sunny and the sun will be warming us for a couple of days. And while the weather channel says there is a “Wintery Threat” hanging over the mid-west and heading our way, I say, “Bring it on!” There is so much more to discover this winter.

Snow days are also old musical days in our house. This is a favorite from White Christmas. “I’ll wash my hair with snow…” there’s an idea!