It’s
raining snow right outside my window; this is kind of an iconic moment in my
life. It might snow every day hence forth but today Thursday the 20th
of December, 2012 almost 11.15 is the first snow fall of my life.
Back in
India, we get our usual, long summer, the most longed monsoons and a small stretch of winter which barely even noticed. So thats what I love most about the west - the
marvelous change of seasons people get to experience here; first it was the
Fall, (in the order in which i got to experience it) where it was like walking live through the beautiful wallpapers that one admired
only on a desktop. The floras were all these magnificent colors bright yellow,
orange, maroon and pink; just awesome. We had occasional showers. Gradually it came to the light
winds in the evenings which swept away the leaves off the trees leaving them
naked with only the branches. I am not a huge fan of the cold numb
climates, with everything looking smoggy and frozen. But I feel the winter this
time was a little generous than what I heard was the situation last time.
Except for two or three days and nights we had bearable cold climates with what I call bone-freezing-teeth-clattering winds. All through from the start of winter, we were all on a wait for the snowfall,
may be because it’s kind of the first time real life deal. Even in
fiction and movies it looks so marvelous. Now when I look at the snow swirling
and pouring down from the sky I feel it too good to be true.
I stood
outside the balcony, like some over excited kid watching shooting stars at
night; I let out my hands for the flakes to drop on. It was crazy but still it
was exhilarating. The snowflakes were like swarms of bees sometime whirling
around sometime falling diagonally as how the winds cast them, but they were like
showers of happiness and merriment from heaven. I got tiny flakes of snow
caught up tangled in my hair and my arms. But they melted off as soon as they
touched the surface.
I knew I
hated winter for good reasons; I was so engaged in a fantasy coming true before
my eyes that I hardly noticed I was standing outside the balcony without any
warm clothes at a 4 degree and snow. We had thunderstorms yesterday. We had the
broadcast as well. So it was just the wait for the snow that remained.
There are
all kinds of things that inspire us. After so many days of spending my days as
a home maker, which I am not that good at, I felt a little sprint in my spirit
like a jolt or something of that sort. But then I guess it’s not just me, Mr. Jones;
the handsome tree standing right outside my window lost all his color and vigor
during the last couple of days of the winter. But now when I look at him I can
see or rather feel a look of joy running through its drooped dried up leaves that
remain on the otherwise leaf less branches. Even when the sun
showed up on some of the days inviting little birdies and squirrels chirping
and running around his branches and my balcony; Mr. Jones was unaffected. I on
the other hand would watch the visitors from inside the closed frames of the French
windows not wanting to bother them but feeling happy about their visits and
chirps making themselves at home all around my balcony.
Ho! but
now it’s like a tempest outside. The snow has slightly subsided and I am back
inside leaving my footprints on the snow resting on my balcony. But I can still
hear the wind outside howling and giving the delicate flakes a hard time
driving them here and there in its strong
currents. Mr. Jones is still in the merry mood, jostling his leaves and
dripping the droplets of snow that settled and melted on his branches, he looks
like an elephant on a swim. Despite of all the turbulence and the ruthless wind
the snow continues. Watching this amazing phenomenon gives me a feeling of
content and warmth. I might hate the cold and numbness of the winter, but I
definitely don’t mind putting aside the grudges if it means I get to watch the
tiny flakes of snow pouring down. Mr. Jones wouldn't mind it either.
The first
fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event. You go to bed in one
kind of a world and wake up in another quite different, and if this is not
enchantment then where is it to be found? (J. B. Priestley)
