On Snow

Snow. It is a seemingly innocent 4 letter word describing the crystalline formation of super cooled molecules of water. Each crystalline form, or flake, is largely unique, though popular culture likes to say that each flake is completely unique, whether or not that is true is irrelevant to my discussion.

What I find interesting is how people see snow. For example the Inuit language of the Eskimos is said to have many different words to describe snow, I would say that this hints at ones perception of thing influencing how a thing is defined.

I have recently seen differing and conflicting perceptions of snow illustrated within my own home. As context I am referring to this past weekend where through a combination of cold air and large amounts of water close to 2 feet of snow was dropped on my home. The dynamics of society reacted quickly when the local meteorologist declared that this weather event was on the verge of transpiring, people flocked to hardware stores to purchase shovels and sacks of ice melt, they also crowded the aisles of the local grocery stores stocking up on milk, bread and eggs. I have to admit that my family was also swept along in this pre-snow fall ritual.

Now we come to the interesting part. My son upon hearing about the snow became excited because he was going to go play in the pure and unspoiled aftermath, visions of snow balls, snowmen and snow angels dominated his mind. My wife on the other hand saw herself sitting on the couch looking out the window watching the snow falling from the dark sky into the eerie silence that seems to accompany night time snow storms. She was absorbed in the beauty and peacefulness. My daughter being only two just ran around the house saying “Snow, Snow, Snow” and looking out the windows.

I had a different view of the impending accumulation. A shiver ran down my spine as I felt the cold damp of socks that would grow wet as I stood in the knee high piles of snow, a steady ache in my lower back would grow more prominent seemingly aware that soon I would be hunched over armed with a shovel moving and clearing collections of the crystalline molecules of frozen water. To me snow means work. Two feet of snow equates to about 2 hours of physical labor.

Now something to keep in mind; I was born in Texas and spent my foundation years there only relocating to the North East when I was on the verge of adulthood. Even after 20 years snow is still foreign to me, I really don’t perceive the loveliness or the joy that my family does. I see work, thankless, unpleasant work.

It’s going to be a long winter.