Snowfall

This is Abby, our 8 yr old husky enjoying this morning's snowfall. I had very little notion that it was going to snow - it didn't smell like snow last night... I actually like those mornings when you wake up and there is a few inches of snow on the ground.

"Well look at that!? It snowed last night!"

Of course - I'm not the one that has to drive to work in it, so I may be of singular opinion here. I also enjoy the reaction from the kids when they wake up and see the snow. They instantly start hunting for their snow boots.

It's true that there are a thousand different types of snowfall. This one is heavy, thick and very wet. The flakes are small and coming down very close together. The air is muffled, but the streets are more slushy than snowy, so you can still hear the wet tire sound when cars drive by.
My favorite type of snowfall is the heavy snowfall with gigantic downy flakes. It doesn't happen very often - I can't even recall when we had one in recent years. My most favorite snowfall memory was a huge storm in the spring of 1992. I was living near Old Town, on Mountain Ave. It was a magical snowfall. By midnight a good 8 inches blanketed everything. I was itching to get out, so I leashed up my husky, Kai, and we went for a walk - just the two of us. Nobody was out except for the occasional car, lumbering down the road, with the layers of snow crunching and squeaking under the tires. It was not very cold at all, so we walked for a good hour. There was so much moisture in the air that the sky had a light, amber haze from the street lights glowing through the snow. The snow muffled all noise. All I could hear was my own footfalls, and the occasional jingle of Kai's collar tags. It was astoundingly beautiful. My only regret is that I can't turn to someone and ask, "Hey, do you remember that one snowfall we had where we got up and walked around during the middle of the night?". My beautiful Kai is long gone, but she loved the snow. She would go outside, curl up into a ball, and let the snow cover her for a bit. She was the perfect companion that night - it's like she totally understood why we were out there, rather than at home, in bed. She stood stock still, along side of me, as we stood on a couple different street corners and just watched the snow. I stood there, thinking, "I want to remember this. This is so achingly beautiful. I want to remember this snow. I want to remember how Kai kept me company on this beautiful, snowy night."

And I do. I'm thinking of you, Kai..



11/24/90 - 6/14/04

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