Many people, at the first sign of winter, will start pining for a sunny beach vacation in Cancun or in the Caribbean. Not me. I love the changing seasons, and each has its charms for me.

It snowed here yesterday and last night. It never ceases to amaze me, the inner feeling of peace and joy I get from walking about on a calm night while snow falls softly from the sky.

The town is always quiet and it makes me quiet. Winter quiet is different than summer, when crickets and other noises of nature’s life are always there. Nature is resting in heavenly peace right now. There’s no wind. It doesn’t feel cold at all. And, places that are normally dark and scary at night, like parks, are lit up by the reflection of the moonlight in the white snow.

In the stillness, I can think, and I feel emotional and connected to the Earth and to its gentle beauty.

The snow softens the look of the city and for a time nature dominates the city instead of the other way around. The more snow, the more profound is this effect. It paralyzes our modern machinery and forces people to slow down and just be. Those who remain inside make more room and more quiet outside for the rest of us.

The snow is pure and white, and it gently settles on the branches of the leafless trees. There is magic in the balancing of white powder on gray branches low and high! If nothing else, the whole world has changed color and put on its brand new unblemished, angelic white coat.

I always think of my childhood and its innocence and the fun I had playing in the snow. I feel a certain exuberance well up inside and I don’t ever really know what to do about it. I wish I could give it a voice, make it real and tangible, but I don’t know how…

Eventually I hear the sound of tires squishing the dry snow, (which sounds almost like someone walking on Styrofoam) and you remember that the city’s all around, still, and fighting back. Yet I know that snow is cold and slippery and driving anywhere is going to be no fun at all! But I am home, and I am walking. Scrunch, scrunch, scrunch… Glorious white everywhere! And I wouldn’t dream of trading a quiet walk in the snow for a day at the beach, that’s for sure!