It always inspires me the way the snow transforms the desert. It was falling as rain just a few days ago but as the temperature dropped each droplet of water became a more expanded and detailed version of itself.

I love how as it piles up it dampens the usual noise giving way to new and interesting sounds. The ravens talk loudly over the trees weighed down with accumulation. The train roars over the silence. The coyotes, foxes, and hares all come down to greet the town as the snow level drops lower and lower.

For a moment, we are reminded of the power of the earth. That a dip in temperature can transform a landscape.

When it would snow in Gig Harbor, I remember the delightful pause the city would take. School would be canceled, work would understand your absence, and it seemed to me the world stopped for moment. It is different here. As I write, I can hear the usually speeding cars slow. The city keeps going and most kids still get to school. But I listen for and tune into the pause. The hesitation to speed. The inability to rush about. As if it isn’t just noise that is dampened. As if we all remember on some level, those snow days as children.

As if we are all reminded that transformation is always possible with only a few degrees of change.