The First Snow

“To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind
than to be hopelessly in love with spring.”
—George Santayana

Thanksgiving Day brought near 70-degree temperatures to us in the Horse Capital of the World, then rain. All day…rain.

But last night, the rain turned white: snow. There’s something about a first snow that sticks in my mind and heart and tickles the old joie de vivre.

Wilson Bentley delighted in the white stuff as well. He was the first (in 1885) to microphotograph snowflakes—more than 5,000 over the course of his life (1865–1931) and no two alike. “Under the microscope,” he said, “I found that snowflakes were miracles of beauty; and it seemed a shame that this beauty should not be seen and appreciated by others. Every crystal was a masterpiece of design and no one design was ever repeated. When a snowflake melted, that design was forever lost. Just that much beauty was gone, without leaving any record behind.”

[Pic by KyScarlett.]