“Everything’s magical when it snows. Everything looks pretty.” –Lorelai Gilmore
While I agree with Lorelai Gilmore on a lot of things, finding snow magical is definitely high up on the list. Although I can’t smell when the snow is coming like Lorelai, my obsession with snow is just as strong as hers. However, I don’t really know where my obsession with snow started. I’ve always loved the cold more than the heat. Sweating and tanning (I just freckle) are not things I really like to put on my to-do list. I prefer coming in from the cold and snuggling up with a warm hot chocolate and a book (yes, I am that stereotypical).
Recently, though, winter has come with a distinct lack of snow. We still get patches, but it’s not what I remember from when I was younger. It’s not surprising then that I’d probably now count autumn as my favorite season; it’s less cold but still equally beautiful due to autumn leaves. Plus, it’s when Halloween is, which is always a bonus.
I still love snow, though. Maybe it’s because of the distinct snow memories that I have. Snow days were happy days for me. On snow days I got to be with my friends, and we got to do my favorite ever activity: sledging. Luckily, we didn’t live too far from a big enough hill since Lincoln (UK, not USA) is pretty hilly anyway. I mean, we do literally have one that is called Steep Hill (which, I am not sledging down because I like living, thank you very much).
But sledging is one of my best childhood memories. I didn’t even mind the one time I sledged with my best friend and we both stupidly wore skinny jeans and regretted it so much when we had to peel them off afterwards. At least we got to put on our pajamas.
Snow was especially significant to me when I was a teenager and everything was, quite frankly, upside down. Snow just settled over everything and distracted everyone. Despite the fact that at this point in time we pretty much got snow every year, we as a country never properly prepared. So everything was always consumed by the time it had snowed. Snow took up everyone’s thoughts, and it was a welcome distraction.
It was always sad when the snow left because then all that was left was grey mush and slippery roads — and just like that the snow wasn’t a distraction anymore. It was a nuisance. Once this happens, snow no longer gives me a space to breathe; instead, it makes me take an extra breath because of how anxious I am about falling.
I haven’t seen snow in a while (in fact, its getting less and less each year), but I know when it does come back that it will still be magical. Snow will always remain magical for me as long as it retains the ability to make me feel instantly excited and at peace with the world.
For now, I’ll just wait.