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1/28/2021

“The Solace of Snow”

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PictureThankfully, Lucy loves snow as much as I do.
The words leaped off the cover of the February-March issue of National Wildlife, the magazine of the National Wildlife Federation. Looking directly at me on the cover was an adorable young American marten—a tawny brown weasel with a bushy tail, a species I knew nothing about that evidently builds tunnels under the snow for warmth and easy hunting.  
 
The phrase stayed with me—“The Solace of Snow”—as I awaited a little snowfall here in central Kentucky. This morning, I awoke to Kentucky’s version of a winter wonderland. Out walking Lucy, I talked to a neighbor who was headed to Florida for some sunshine and golf. The mail carrier stopped to chat and said she’d be fine if this were the last snow she ever saw in her life. I piped up, saying, “I’d like to have snow on the ground from December 1 to March 31”—and the conversation abruptly stopped. They stared at me. My undying love for snow is not popular.

A snowfall calms me. It purifies the landscape, covering all the world’s blemishes, all the ugliness, all the winter rot. I love the crisp, cold air. I love crunching through the snow or kicking up the powder. A beautiful snowfall renews me, the way crocuses pushing through the snow might give others hope. 

For me, snow does indeed offer solace, something that has been in short supply over the last months. 

Reading the article “A Fading Winter Blanket,” I learn how diminishing snowfall is affecting a wide range of animals, from the marten to the polar bear to ruffled grouse to the tiny Karner blue butterfly in upstate New York, which lays its eggs on the stems of wild blue lupine, expecting them to be warmed and protected by persistent snowpack all winter. As the earth has warmed, that hasn’t been the case, so the Karner blue butterfly population is at risk. Polar bears are struggling to find the deep snow needed for birthing dens. Mountain goats in the American West seek increasingly rare patches of snow year-round to prevent them from overheating.

The natural world as we know it depends on snow, for a wide variety of reasons. As our weather becomes more extreme—too much snow in some places, too little elsewhere, glaciers melting, sea levels rising—many species suffer. Some will adapt. Some will disappear. We’ll grieve them when it’s too late.

Meanwhile, I’ll keep longing for the blanketing snows of my childhood, for long days on the sledding hill and soaking wet snow gear draped around the house. For the break in routine that a heavy snow compels—the only excuse you need to revel momentarily in its enchanting beauty.
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5 Comments
Robert Mcwilliams
1/28/2021 07:49:56 pm

In past years I’ve uttered comments like the mail carrier. This year it hasn’t bothered me one iota. I’ve actually enjoyed it, Maybe I’ve come to realize that what little inconvenience it may cause doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. I have so much to be thankful for and I need to remember that.

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Teri
1/29/2021 06:41:51 am

When we lived in Minnesota, I loved a morning with new fallen snow. So quiet. So peaceful. Loved today's snow here in Kentucky, which seems even more special since it only happens maybe once a year.

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Joseph Anthony
1/29/2021 02:31:05 pm

It purifies the landscape, covering all the world’s blemishes, all the ugliness, all the winter rot. I love the crisp, cold air.

I think of Emily Dickenson's poem that begins: "There's a certain slant of light on Winter afternoons..." She celebrates the season she is in. We should, too.

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Bob Patrick
1/30/2021 10:37:35 am

When the top. is in the high 20's and the sun is out, being out in the snow does have a calming effect. I recall Christmas shopping with my mother (an Iowa native) in downtown Iowa City on a very blustery day after a huge snowfall. All of a sudden I notices my mother was not beside me. Turning around, there stood my Mom, the wind had frozen her in her tracks. We went into a store and had a good laugh over Iowa's cold Winter's.

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Ed Lawrence
1/30/2021 07:53:39 pm

I grew up in Florida. My first memory of snow was when we made the pilgrimage to Kentucky for a big family Christmas. I was twelve years old and I stood outside my aunt's home with my arms outreached and my tongue stuck out to feel the snow. I still love snow. Once a bunch of friends of mine had this discussion about the perfect snow in Kentucky. It's about three to four inches during the night. When you wake it is quiet and peaceful. As the day warms a bit you get out and play or enjoy the outside. Traffic can navigate in this amount of snow. Walks are pleasant as the temperature rises. The next day is sunny with temperatures in the sixties and just like that--the snow is gone.

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    Between the debilitating effects of age and the 24-hour crush of mind-bending news, my brain is frequently in a fog. Nonetheless. I'll occasionally try to sweep aside the ashy gray matter and shed some light on what's going on at Murky Press. Perhaps together we can also gain a little insight into how we can better use words to organize and clarify the world around us.

    Cheers! 
    Sallie Showalter, Murky Press 

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