Reflections on snow...

Yesterday afternoon I sat at my laptop typing an email and when I glanced out of the window I just had to dash downstairs, kicking off my slippers as I went so I could run faster.  I grabbed the camera from the kitchen, pushed my feet into my wellies by the front door, and ran out into the garden.

The setting winter sun cast shadows of elongated bare trees but it was the light that reflected in the spaces between which had first caught my eye and caused my rush of excitement.  It was so beautiful I had to capture it.  I'm not sure now if my photo does it justice...

The snow has been a real pain, hindering all I want to do.  I remarked to a friend, "I could cope with everything else better if it wasn't for the snow!"

Her wise reply was, "Maybe God doesn't want you to cope with it all!"

I tend to live my life in a state of organised chaos.  The house is never immaculately tidy but if there are jobs to be done I will have it all worked out in my head....first this and then that, and while I'm there I could do this and maybe that on the way home!  I'm probably typical of most mothers juggling family life and making sure the right person is at the right venue, at the right time, with the right stuff!  And usually it works in some sort of haphazard fashion.

The snow put a stop to normal life for most people.  For me the snow just made what was already a bad situation ten times worse! Suddenly I had all these extra things to do and no way to get them done.  I've been forced to slow down, take my time and ask for help.  But what I don't get done today will have to wait.  Without the snow I would be running around like a mad woman proving I can do it all and making sure everyone else is accounted for too.

I'm learning to go at a slower pace, taking time out to chat to people I see, having an unexpected longer walk home from school with a friend and her dog. Or even saying "no" to another friend and arranging to meet later in the week because today I just can't fit it in.   Making the most of every opportunity because even though it's a cliche I've found out that life is short.

Another picture I took yesterday was the one of the leaves that I've used as a background for my blog.  For some technical reason I can't fathom I couldn't post the whole picture for the background as it was too big but it seems to be OK here (hmmm - answers on a postcard and not too technical please!)

What amazes me is that there are still leaves on the oak tree and you can see from the photo they are still green.  When in the background the ash trees have all lost their leaves and my recollection from previous years is that they are usually the last to fall.


Winter seems to have arrived too early, we've been caught unaware and yet some of us aren't ready to let go...


So please take time to admire the light on the snow, enjoy the laughter of the children, even stop and shed a tear or two (it was Vincent by Don McLean on the radio that got me this morning).


Just my observations and reflections on going slow...