There is something magical and wonderful about snow!
Snow creates that giddy feeling of excitement inside of us as we anticipate its arrival; never quite knowing how much we will get. Dogs like to frolic in it. Children of all ages like to play in it. Most people don’t know how to drive in it. Hardware stores and grocery stores thrive in it. Schools and businesses close at the first mention of it. Folks like to cuddle in it. Babies are conceived in it. We drink lots of hot cocoa in it (with marshmallows of course!). Apparently we eat lots of milk and bread in it (just ask the grocer). We pull out the rusty old sled in it. We have snow ball fights in it. We build snowmen with carrot noses in it. We bring out the auxiliary heat sources in it; the rock salt, shovels and blowers too in it. We pretend we’re The Walton’s if we lose power in it. We make snow cream too in it (no yellow snow please). And the best thing of all about snow is…
It gives us “guilt free” permission to settle in; to just relax and to enjoy the things that we don’t always allow ourselves to do in our busy everyday lives. When it snows and we are snuggled up inside, there is a sense of calm and peacefulness all around us. The falling snow not only purifies the air but it quenches Mother Earth as it melts. Snow is what happens in January. Snow is God’s gift for us to enjoy.
In case you’ve never tried Snow Cream, here is a simple recipe courtesy of our friend in butter Paula Deen.
Ingredients:
8 cups of snow
1 (14 oz.) can of sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp. of vanilla extract
Place the snow into a large bowl. Pour the condensed milk over it. Add the vanilla and mix until blended. Immediately serve in bowls.
Mom always said that you shouldn’t eat the first snowfall of the season (because of all the impurities in the air I guess) so some of us may have to wait until round two.