"Everything's Magical When it Snows, Everything Looks Pretty"

Like virtually my entire social media news feed, we got some snow last night.  Yes, I live in the mountains, but also yes, I live in the south.  So, we like to think we know what to do with snow, but as southern mountaineers, people from other places may scoff when they actually see it.  This time we got over six inches; it may have been closer to seven or eight by the time the flakes stopped falling this morning.  Regardless, it's a pretty snow. For us, this is a real snow.  The first real snow of this season.  You could practically hear the cheers from the ski slopes, even in spite of the bitter wind and frigid temperatures.

Lorelai Gilmore, the main character on "Gilmore Girls," insisted that she could smell snow.  Lorelai is one of the characters that I naively think would be a very dear friend, if a few things were different; mainly, if she were real and I lived in Stars Hollow.  Anyway, first snows always remind me of her.  She's right; the world changes with that blanket of white.  Snow does make everything look magical; look clean, look bright, look new.  However, that cold also carries a bite.  The beauty of it is deceivingly dangerous, in so many ways.

This particular first snow felt like a true first snow for Amelia.  We are running out of these moments for her; she's getting to the age where firsts are becoming fewer and farther apart.  At two years old (and seven months), she is getting to the point where she remembers more and more.  For those of you who know Amelia, you know how true that is for her specifically.  This child hardly every forgets.  Her memory continually surprises me.  Christmas did have a novel feel though; she was still overjoyed and surprised with each new thing we did this year.  Each moment brought some toddler magic.  Today was another window into that wonder.

There is an unbelievable amount of change coming for my family, most of the time right now, it feels like it's barreling toward us.  I'm still processing a good bit; and not ready to share it all, but it's coming.  Today, though, got to be about Amelia.  We relished being "snowed in."  We stayed at home all day, played together and played in the snow.

Since I'm over eight months pregnant, sadly, I couldn't sled today, but that didn't stop Adam and Amelia.  She could barely stand still as I got her dressed to go out and never hesitated for a moment. You could see how beautiful it looked to her; how magical.  She walked through the snow, she made snow angels, she rode on the sled, she declared that snow angels were all over her.  The outing didn't last terribly long since it (and is) horribly cold and windy, but that short period of time was enough to make her small backyard world something new, exciting and different.

Every time this happens, I am reminded of how lucky we are to have those moments and how lucky we are to witness those moments in her.  Amelia is growing up so quickly; I know that one day that magic will change.  The change is inevitable.  But, it doesn't have to disappear.  I hope that 2017 can be a year of magic for all of us.  No, nothing will be perfect.  Yes, there will be more loss, more pain, more sadness, more frustration, more inequalities.  I also know that we are the ones that can fight against that and fight we must.

In spite of all of that, don't miss out on snow days.  Don't forget what it was like to see something as if for the first time.  Know where you've been, but also where you're going.  Don't shrug off an opportunity to see the world as a toddler does; to see it as it could be, to see it as new, as pretty, as magical.