Day 2
It’s snowing. I’m up in my second floor office looking west onto the park that lies within mere inches of my windowsill. Well, from here it looks like it’s mere inches – but in reality – you have to walk through my yard and across the street to get to it. And though it’s a public park – part of our vast park system where I live – it is MY park. The extension of my front yard, my home, me.
Quite simply I am spoiled. I spend a lot of time up here in this office. A LOT of time … at all hours of the day and night – looking out onto that park. And I have to admit I like evenings and nights best because the townhomes that are just beyond the trees, just beyond the walking path, on the other side of the park look magical at that time of the day.
It’s hillier here than most people think and those townhomes are nestled into a nice little hillside on the other side of the creek. In the summer the whole area is transformed into a gnome village – porch lights twinkling on and off with the swaying of green branches. I can just imagine a fat, vested badger getting his evening paper from his porch stoop … nose to the sky sniffing the rich scents that the breezes bring. I never picture people living over there … I guess too many readings of Wind in the Willows for me!
In the spring and autumn the trees are more sparsely leafed so my view opens up a bit and I can start to see rooftops and chimneys and more homes nestled in with the trees. I watch the leaves come in … which trees turn yellow first, which show their green fringe next. And then when the air turns crisp – which trees drop their leaves quickly and are the first to be naked and which, if no snow, stay and give us a show of color until that inevitable snow that comes far too soon.
But it’s winter when my view opens completely and I can see all of this end of the park, all the porch lights and the mountains in the distance (that are swallowed up by leaves at other times of the year). The sky even seems bigger – more expansive. It’s really a beautiful view.
Tonight, as I type (without any lights on thanks to Ted who got me a new light-up keyboard – which I adore) the whole landscape is a gray-white-pink. The pink cast is undeniable and it really is quite pretty. The snow and sky are that same shade, the little lights are shining in the distance and I can see every branch and limb on every tree as they are standing out so black and clearly against the snow. It’s an unusual light. If a person or animal were to be walking anywhere out there – I could surely quite easily see them. And that’s probably why I don’t see any coyotes or foxes out – too easy to spot. There is no cover of darkness tonight.
We received 21 inches of snow over the weekend. A bit much – even for us! And tonight’s light dusting of sugar-frosting snow is nicely softening up the edges that were shoveled or plowed – making everything look like a vast expanse of gray-pink marshmallow creme.
Time for cocoa.