The First Snow

The branches are heavy with the first snow as mother nature blankets us in her white quiet. It’s as if all the commotion in the world has come to a stop. No war, no greed, no pain. The wood stove heats the room and casts a beautiful orange glow across Doc laying contented in his bed basking in the warmth. There is only peace in my world at this moment and it is a much needed feeling.

There was a time when I dreaded the snow and winter. I fought against it every year promising myself that I would find a way to move to the southwest if only for the winter. And then I moved further north. Go figure. It was in this wintery place that I finally resigned myself to winter. I did more than resign though. I embraced it. About eight years ago I was tracking wolves (as part of a workshop) near Tomahawk when the beauty of the snow, the birch trees and the quiet finally found me. It all felt so familiar, as if I had lived here hundreds of years ago making my way on the land. I finally reconnected to the land and found in her a piece of myself that I had lost. Ever since then the snow reminds me of that connection.

It seems to me that much of life is like this. We fight hard against something only to finally realize that the struggle comes from the energy summoned to resist. Once we stop resisting and embrace that which is presenting itself to us, the peace and quiet come. The beauty is realized. What are you resisting in your life? Are you ready to let go of the struggle? 

The animals understand this. They don’t resist their lives, they simply live them. They take each moment as it comes without worrying about what they did in the past to cause this moment or what it means for the future. They play hard when they feel like it and then fall into a deep sleep to rest up for more joy. They don’t see looking for food as a struggle, as we might our work, they see it as an adventure, as something they are called to. They live in the moment, but more importantly, they allow their life to happen without judgment.

Today I wish for each of you a piece of peace. A quiet moment in the white stillness. And when you have found your peace and rested, be sure to play and laugh some too.

Post Script: This blog was never posted on Wednesday because the power went out.  It is now Thursday morning and still no power.  However, I was able to drive to a coffee shop with WI-Fi so I could send this off into the ethers.  I am grateful to have two woodstoves and a gas stove to heat the house and warm water and food.  I’m also grateful I had the foresight to fill the bath tub with water…and that the power went out in the winter so that perishables can be stored outside.  And finally, that our neighbors have a generator so we can get water from them and haul it to the horses.