the first photograph of snow

"sito, it's here!" my wife excitedly typed at the other end of our internet chat. "snow! it's starting to fall now. oh, it's getting very cold here."

"how is it? is it soft, powdery?" i asked her. this is my chance to get a blow-by-blow account. straight from my wife's lips. the  way she experiences it.

"oh, i dare not go outside, it's so cold," she repeated. and she monitored the temperature for me. -5 degrees, -6, -7. she stopped at -12 degrees. wow! that cold? "i'm wearing layers of clothes. i'm glad somebody lent me some thermal underwear and boots." 

"well, please be careful. take care of yourself," i reminded her, "i heard this thing about frostbite when the body's cartilaginous bones become brittle due to extreme cold and simply break off." i smiled to myself imagining how my wife will look without her ears and her nose. ears and noses have cartilaginous bones.

"could you take a picture?" i asked her.

"i told you, i don't want to go outside! it's so cold out there." she shot back. "if you want i'll open my laptop's camera and i'll point it at the driveway. it's starting to be covered by snow." she volunteered.

"okay, go," i agreed.  she went to where i can have a good view of Mother Nature's cold blanket. and voila! i did it! my very own photograph of snow. the tree in the foreground is bare. i don't want to be in her position right now. in my mind, i thought, this should be the time when this tree should cover herself with leaves, layers of them, like my wife's clothing, so she can fight off the cold. but, Mother Nature has her own rules. and the  ground, it is all white now. where are the grasses? the shrubbery? it looks lonely out there, what with the slowly creeping blanket of white.

"it seems the sun has hidden herself since the snow had started falling," my wife commented, "there's barely a hint of sunshine. i'm sad for the children. they cannot go outdoors to play. yet, they say christmas time is not exciting without the snow. this is really the time of the year when she comes."

well, there is no perfect place. here in our country we complain of dust and heat and rain. in other countries, people might complain of not getting enough sunshine and of being cold. this is the nature of this world. we are challenged to be able to exist under different circumstances: heat, cold, rain, snow, sunshine, moonshine, wind, bare trees, tall grasses, dust, dirt, grime, opulence, need,  rich, poor, greed, benevolence, even blind justice. our mission is to master the circumstances that we find ourselves in. to rise above them. these circumstances are opportunities given us to express our full potentials as man, and as divine beings.

and so, we must always bear this in mind. the outer man might be suffering because of the cold blanket of snow, but, if one thinks deep and goes inside one's self, one might find that the inner man, the divine spark in him, is benefiting from this cold, from this loneliness, from this lack of sunshine, and is being helped to grow, to learn, to express its divinity.

" to effect the quality of day is the highest of all arts". this was by henry david thoreau. i could not agree more. for me, this means elevating every day of one's life towards an expression of the divine spark within him. to find a hint of perfection in an imperfect place.

"sito," she typed, "i think snow is somewhat powdery, or fluffy, or feathery."

there. i'm glad my wife summoned an ounce of bravery to touch snow for me. and i smiled contentedly.

i always thought it to be so.