Snowflakes Through the Eyes of a Child
It's winter time again here in Texas and the cold air is nostalgic. It brings back memories of winters past. Some of the best memories I have as a child were spent in Amarillo Texas. My childhood wasn't what I would have chosen for myself but what good memories I do have I cherish. It was in the early 80's I think around the time President Reagan was shot. I lived in Amarillo and I believe I was attending the second grade at the time. Saturday mornings were all about the Smurfs and for some reason I remember all those cereal commercials.
The wonderful thing about Amarillo was the winter weather. I remember it snowed a lot. I remember huge snow drifts up against the apartment buildings and getting all bundled up and venturing out into the huge white abyss. You know how when you are a kid and everything is interesting and you really can see the beauty in simple things? That's the feeling I'm talking about.. that's the feeling I can remember!
I would go outside on cold sunny mornings where there would be a fresh blanket of snow from the day before that was almost blinding and kneel down and just lose myself in the sparkle of all those perfect little glistening snowflakes. The way the sun reflected light on them it looked to me like God sprinkled glitter from the sky. Snowflakes amazed me (and still do).. so tiny, so perfect, so many of them. And at night there was the bluish glow from the ground covered with snow. It was the bright moon casting light on everything white.. It was magical to me. It's been over 30 years ago and still think about it. How I wish it would snow like that where I live now.
I'm still in Texas but a completely different part where it hardly ever snows but on occasion we will get lucky and see an inch or two. Every single winter I wait for it to snow and the rare times it does I look for snowflakes but I have yet to see any as awesome as the ones I saw when I was a child. OK, OK.. I know.. you guys that live with snow all the time probably think I'm crazy but I guess it's just because I remember what it looked like through the eyes of a child. What about you? Did you ever see the blue glow at night or the blanket of glitter spread out in the sunshine??
I think snow is one of God's most awesome creations! It just produces some kind of much needed calm in me. It helps clear up all the jumble in my head.. maybe it's the color of it and that it covers everything. I think of it being symbolic of God and his grace.. it is cleansing and pure and has no boundaries. Everywhere you look, there it is. When you look at it there is more to it than what you see.. if you look close enough its a bunch of beautiful and perfect tiny shapes all piled up together.
I have enjoyed sharing my snowy childhood memories with you. If you live in a place where it snows a lot I am envious. Now that winter is back here in northeastern Texas maybe we will get lucky this year and I will get to revisit my childhood again. At least I hope!
One more thing. Because of my fascination with snowflakes I'm always looking for information and trying to learn more about them. While doing research on the internet,I found this snowflake site. It has some extraordinary pictures of snowflakes and also explains the process of how they are formed-so tiny and yet so intricate. It's really amazing, you should check it out.