The art of the first snow storm

Lucky you. Here in Boston it's raining, a miserable cold drizzle that chills the soul and lends a bittersweet coda to the multiple debacles at the polls yesterday. Ah, to be in Montreal now that winter's here.

The first snow in its first hours is a fairy tale come true. I especially love the trees coated in ice after and ice storm.

In Fort Worth, Texas, today we woke to sunshine for the first time in about two weeks. What a relief to know sunshine still exists and I feel exlierated by the brightness. The sun shines so much down here that a cloudy rainy and stormy day is often welcome. But over two weeks of rain with not sun is not good.

Snow in the DFW area, yike, you do not want to be here for that. It isn't pretty. Texas trucks slippin and a slidden. They don't seeme to understand that you cannot drive 57 miles per on snow and ice.

Joanne, know what you mean. I've seen the laughable results of a minor storm in Washington, DC. What would be considered a minor dusting of snow in Boston becomes a major catstrophic event in DC. People living south of the Mason-Dixon line just don't have any idea of how to handle their vehicles when there's snow and ice on the ground. It's hilarious.

Once in D.C. they predicted snow and during the evening rush hours there were over 350 fender benders on a sprinkling of snow that barely made the road wet.

L.A. gets like that about rain. Ridiculous.

Algis, yes, the poetry of first snowfall... few things are lovelier.

Winter Boarding of the Epp Farm

Beneath the frozen pole star, a barn
shoulders into the cold

air stretched crystalline tight
like barbed wire from dark mast to dark mast

Black rooster on the prow of the farmhouse
shivers, wide-eyed as

whispering, knives in their teeth
each swashbuckle snowflake
fixes soft grapples

I´m in Scandinavia and am used to the snow but the Danes are getting less and less of it.
Snow in a large city is never fun for more than an hour.I´m a cyclist and dislike being covered in tsunami like sprays of freezing cold black sludge from passing vehicles.It´s more effective than a pot of coffee for waking up in the morning though.

Algis, your description of the first snow is lovely.

My first snow came when I was a child in Tucson, AZ. I think the thing I first noticed, even before I knew it had snowed, was the silence. Snow really is a blanket, absorbing all the usual noises we take for granted.

I remember waking and wondering at the quiet, then looking out the window in wonder. It was the first time it had snowed in Tucson for several years and I was in junior high school.

I raced outside and made a snowman, using almost all the snow on the lawn. I didn't own any warm caps so I put a sun hat on his head. He looked pretty ridiculous, but he was wonderful--my first snow and my first snowman.

The first snow of the season remains magical for me, even in Connecticut. The world changes and watching the beauty of it is as mesmerizing as watching a fire or the ocean's waves breaking on shore.

Blatham, I love the poem. Did you write it?

I am inspired by all..............

I think a new poem is going to come from this.

Algis we are, well I am waiting. Love poetry.

We just had our second snow falling.
It really was not that appauling
In fact, it had no feeling or personality at all.
Like Tuesday.

The sequel is never as good as the original.