When I went to bed last night and was turning the Christmas lights off, I noticed that we had a snowfall of a couple of inches. I had not really paid attention to the news or the weather, so, it was a surprise to me. It was a quiet snowfall as there was no wind. It was a nice early winter surprise. From the way it was melting on the paved areas and was sticking to the trees, it was clearly a wet but your yet fluffy covering.
I love a good snowfall especially a beautiful first snowfall of the season like this one. It makes everything look clean. It dampens the noise and makes everything quieter and most peaceful. For me, it creates a most tranquil ambiance for introspection and contemplation of, well, everything starting with whatever is on my mind.
As I often do, I went out and took photos. Usually, I do that for crazy blizzardy large snowfalls. This one was just really nothing special, but the timing. Amid the Omicron surge at the end of the year, many people I know are hunkering down and taking this all very seriously while others are more cavalier about not letting any of this interfere with their personal plans for the holidays. It is the end of the year, a new one about to dawn. For me, it has provided a mix of hope that this will end
soon and trepidation that it will get worse before that happens. At a time like this, taking a few minutes to appreciate the beauty of nature is most welcome. Being outside and admiring the snow was a simple thing and a most peaceful moment.
It was a dream, a desire of mine, early in the pandemic, that this scare might be the inflection point where mankind takes the next step of evolution. A time where we would trade-off some of that self-interest that has driven us to progress this far for a better mix of self and collective interest that we may need to thrive in these times of high population and global scarcity. Utopian as that might be, I dared to dream. That dream has faded in large measure in the polarization that has a much higher infection rate than the actual Covid variants. The dream has faded but I still have to be hopeful.
Beyond all of what I have written about this little snowfall. I did something else
that I always do. I took a video and shared it with my grandchildren. I like to send them videos now and again. Recently, I gave them a tour of the house and all the Christmas decorations as the pandemic has kept us apart for a second year. Most of the videos I send tend to be school or weather related. I love to send them videos of snowstorms or the Chicago River as it rages through our campus after torrential rainstorms.
Wishing you all a most pleasant end to this year and hoping that 2022 is not 2020 II but a year of health, happiness, and prosperity for everyone.
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