
Snowfall, Philadelphia, 2021. Photo by R.D. Joslin
Yesterday, a friend sent me this photo from Philadelphia, which captures the beauty and serenity that a thick blanket of snow provides.
Last week, snow from a sprawling winter storm swept across the USA covering nearly 75% of the country. Nearly every state had temperatures that dipped below freezing, affecting 150 million people.
Texas experienced the worst winter weather in decades, flights were grounded and more than 2 million people endured the cold without power or water. Many families (including a good friend’s son, wife and two young sons) slept huddled together in front of fireplaces to try and stay warm.
I talked to friends in Salem, Oregon Saturday eve. They told me about the devastation in their neighborhood from the many trees that had toppled over under the weight of accumulated ice. When they finally ventured out to see the damage, a huge limb fell across their front porch, missing them, but causing significant damage to their house.
Beauty and serenity is definitely needed now as people recover not only from this winter storm but the more than year-long struggle with COVID. And so I leave you with this beautiful winter poem written by Emily Dickinson.
It Sifts from Leaden Sieves
It sifts from leaden sieves
It powders all the wood.
It fills with alabaster wool
The wrinkles of the road.
It makes an even face
Of mountain, and of plain –
Unbroken forehead from the east
Unto the east again –
It reaches to the fence –
It wraps it rail by rail
Till it is lost in fleeces;
It flings a crystal veil
On stump, and stack and stem –
The summer’s empty room
Acres of seams where harvests were,
Recordless, but for them –
As ankles of a queen –
Then stills its artisans like ghosts,
Denying they have been.