Snow
by Susun S Weed

Snow
​
I like snow.
I choose to live where it snows.
​
Snow is transformative.
Snow is revealing.
Snow brings curves and drips, drifts and softness.
​
Snow is natural fertilizer.
So is rain.
Neither "cleanses."
​
The image of rain "washing away" (our sins?) (pollution?) is vivid.
The image of snow "covering" (our sins?) (ugliness?) with a blanket of white is clear.
​
I'm reminded of the young Dutch man who, when I initiated him into his life as a shaman, vowed to "cleanse the waters of the earth."
I wondered how he would do that?
And where would he put whatever he "cleansed" from the water?
​
I remind myself that nature doesn't work that way.
She doesn't cleanse; she nourishes.
"I eat you, and you eat me" applies to precipitation too.
​
Because a drop of rain or a snowflake begins with a bit of earth.
And the rain or snowflake brings that bit back to earth.
So we can be nourished by it.
So we can eat it.
​
The wind carries protein-rich pollen and mineral-rich dust high into the sky.
Very cold water vapor in the air uses a mote of pollen or dust as a nucleation site.
Nucleation sites are the first step in transformation.
​
The water vapor freezes onto that bit of earth.
And attracts more water.
Together, they become a tiny crystal of ice.
Which attracts more water.
Making the crystal bumpy.
Those bumps attract more water and become branches.
Finally, flat surfaces form, mirroring the shape of the molecules that make up the crystal.
Six sided.
Snowflake!
​
Yes.
Every snowflake is unique.
No repetitions.
​
Each mote that is at the heart of the snowflake is different.
Humidity levels vary as each snowflake forms.
So does the temperature.
As a snowflake grows, it gets heavier, so it falls through the atmosphere.
Getting warmer and colder.
Attracting and encountering water vapor.
​
Every snowflake has a unique path as it falls.
Swirled and bounced by winds.
Diverted and bumped by other flakes.
​
Every snowflake has a distinct growth pattern and forms a unique shape.
Even snowflakes which fall close together have experienced slightly different paths and therefore are slightly different.
​
The moon is eating.
She grows fuller.
Shining on the snow.
Freeing the glittering rainbows.
Reflecting snowflake facets.
Unique.
Individual.
Nourishing.
​
How beautiful is the snow.
It is in beauty.
How refreshing my breath, a giveaway dance with the plants.
How strong my heartbeat, synchronized with the earths heartbeat.
Small feet scurry safely under the snow.
Safe, safe.
Green blessings surround me.