Snow!

I woke up this morning to heavy cold rain, which began to look oddly slushy on the deck, and as I watched it turned to sodden white flakes of snow. It is collecting in some places, though not quickly or much, and the air is frigid. It is the end of March, spring break for some, we are past Easter, and it is snowing! I even heard it thunder, as if the weather can't decide whether it's old man winter or a spring thunderstorm.

Why is it that an unexpected snowfall is magical at Christmastime, and in March it is just tiresome? It's still beautiful, really, just not as enticing as the saucy yellow daffodils, or the fat buds of rhododendrons, or the spring peepers who have gone silent now.

The flakes are getting thicker, and as they freeze and clump they fall more slowly, drifting silently. The ground is still warmer than the clouds, so they melt as soon as they touch the earth, and I hear them trickling in the gutters, instantly reduced to flowing water. But on stone, or wood, the temperature changes more quickly and it's cold enough now for the flakes to last and form a sparkling white crust.