Winter’ s Fleeting Grace
by Wib Middleton
As we go to press with our spring issue, the last tenacious clumps of snow are slowly melting away. Winter presents an unadorned display of magnificent tree bones— the architecture of Nature’ s lungs. Silvery streams unburdened by overgrowth spill into larger waterways, and vast swaths of open farmland with rows of ground stubble from the last harvest await new growth.
When snow falls the entire landscape transforms. We can see a monochromatic world with dark forests in the distance as the pure white frosting of snow blankets everything.
And like life, black and white alone belies the truth of the experience as there is much grey, sometimes subtle, giving dimension to the scene. There is a stillness, a pause, and quiet beauty everywhere in winter if we take time to be with it.