Out of the White Stuff, a Reminder

For all our weariness of the long white season and its trappings, it gifts us with a surprise now and then, occasionally something like this morning's image.

Pleasing bits of gnarly enchantment protrude from the snow now and again, and they are wonderful to see, powerful reminders of the vanished season's warmth and light, its glorious coloration and fragrance. They always seem to awaken something within, and I am reminded of a quote from Albert Camus. “In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer."

The dried fronds, wands and seed heads emerging from the snow and coming back into the light are wonderfully bendy, and they have curving, sinuous shapes. There is just a hint of the vibrant hues they once wore. Perhaps their appearance out of the white stuff is a sign that winter is "getting old" and warmer days are not far off? We perch in towering snowdrifts and wave at other villagers going by. We watch for signs of winter departing. We think about springtime and nesting owls, about maple syrup gathering, snowdrops and songbirds. We rattle and creak and go on.

Perceptions totter and fade, and they take on strange shapes in late winter. At this time of the year, we need small gifts from the Old Wild Mother (Earth) and reminders of her indwelling wonder and magic, her infinite capacity for change. This morning's aide-mémoire was just a strand of last summer's common tansy poking out of a snowdrift, but it was poignant stuff, and I needed to see it. There has been a lot of wind around here this winter, and I am surprised this one was still standing. 

This evening there was a knock at the door, and I answered it to find a neighbor and his young sons standing on the threshold with their shovels. It snowed today, and the kids thought they would clear my driveway but wanted to ask permission before they started to fling the white stuff about with their father.  That is what living in the village is all about. We take care of each other. In these dark and troubling times, that is something to cherish and crow about.