It snowed today.
I woke up, opened the window, and saw cold
rain falling into the parking lot. As i watched the rain started falling a little slower, drifting sideways. Soon it was all snow, a wet, sticky, soggy snow. At first it all melted on contact with the ground, but by the time the storm was ending
grass, shrubs, roofs, and
cars were frosted with a layer of snow.
Now to the vast majority of Everything2 users, this doesn't sound like all that interesting of an occurance. Granted, the first snow of the year is always a magical thing, and theres something amazing about the world the second after the snow stops, when everything is new and silent. But here it was more than that. The last time it snowed here, and the snow stuck to the ground, i wasnt even alive yet. It was some time in the seventies.. back then they got a bit more than we did today... about 2 inches. I imagine the bead-covered hippies awakening to the snow looked at it with the same amazement as we did today as they headed off to classes at UC Davis. I'm sure back then there were snowball fights and small, ice-covered snowmen watching over the Quad for a few hours just like today.
The snow fell on a totally unsuspecting world. Unfurled flowers were frosted and palm fronds bent under the weight of a half inch of wet snow. The shrubs and grasses native to the area must have a genetic memory of snow, and how to regrow broken limbs and repair frost damage. But few, if any, of the shrubs growing around the city have ever bowed under a snowfall before. The magpies and ravens had even taken a few hours off of squabbling and searching for food, and jumped about energetically in the snow. Most likely the ravens had seen snow before, as they tend to roam the state rather freely, and the Sierras are only a day's flight away. But the endemic yellow-billed magpies probably didn't know quite what to make of it all. A few humans had the same reaction; several people I talked to today had never even seen snow before. One girl stood in her doorstep, and asked me why the rain was falling so slowly today. The wonder inspired by a half-inch of snow was amazing. Footsteps crossed a small park where people had created a snow angel and engaged in a snowball fight. Two teenagers were using an old snowboard to try to carve down a hill. I left town at about 10 AM amidst the dripping snow-covered trees and came back a half hour later. Not a single trace of snow was left except for one crusty piece of ice laying in the grass. Right now i am filled with a kind of sadness as i may never get to see it snow here again. But at the same time, even though the snow is gone, the whole world still seems new. Finally, i have a chance to start over.