Snowed in

Everyone has been talking about the storm that would arrive today and generally the tone used has been one of annoyance; only the school children and I seem to think getting a day off is good.So when the snow struck and covered the city in white, I was happy as it would offer new ways to look at the same old things while on my daily walk.Bundled in my wool coat and hat, scarf wrapped tightly and mittens on, I walked outside in 5� of snow, even sliding a little down the hill because it just looked like so much fun. I noticed how beautiful the trees looked with white laying heavy on them, how many robins were out and how often they called to one another (most likely wanting to know where the goods were). I saw a ridiculous looking poodle looking even more ridiculous in booties, hat and shawl but jumping rather happily in the snow just the same. When I came to the lake, I saw a fabulous scene � made prettier by the fact that the only sound around was that of softly falling snow. I whipped out my camera to photograph what it was I saw.While doing so, a man walked by me and said, �Why are you taking a picture? You can�t see anything?� To which I replied, �You can always see something if you choose to look.�He didn�t hear my reply because he was on his power walk somewhere, probably to work. He�s like a lot of people who only notice what they think they�re supposed to and only look when they have to. People so busy that a walk represents only a way of getting somewhere or losing weight and not about seeing and acknowledging the environment in which they live.I continued my walk and came across a group of children who, all but one, were making snow angels in the ground. The one little girl was just lying there with a huge smile on her face and her eyes pinched closed so hard. A little boy called out to her, asking what she was doing. �I�m taking a picture of the sky with my mind,� she said, �Because it�s beautiful when it drops snow!�This made me smile, wondering what else she saw that day and if she�d continue to look that way the rest of her life.