Impressed by water, weather

I am continually impressed by water. It is flexible, powerful, infinite. It forms entire masses over the earth in the form of glaciers. It carves out crevasses and mountains, moves over land, and yesterday here in NE Ohio, it sculpted itself into various impressive forms over everything external: trees, road signs, cars, encasing everything exposed in a thin sheet of sparkling ice.

Sophie shares my awe with weather: today as we were leaving for school, she plucked a piece of grass totally encased in ice from the yard, marveling at the way it shimmered.

Many people hate this weather. And there are times when I come in from doing some chore outside shivering too. But if looked at objectively, these weather patterns are quite impressive and beautiful.

There is beauty in winter, just as many find beauty in other seasons. For me, winter is wonderful because things are so quiet. I can take my pack of dogs to the woods and let them run free because there is rarely anyone out on the trails in winter.

Winter is a time of intense but quiet and subtle beauty. Winter mimics what I love about backpacking: the feeling of absolute solitude brings me closer to feeling a oneness with nature, and therefore, God.

Look closely. There's a whole world out there.