Two Kids
Hand in hand they run,
Skip, fall, laugh, get up again
They make my heart melt
We haven’t walked as often, as long and as varied ever, as we have done these past months – almost a year, in fact. Typically, we get inspired to go out because the kids drive us crazy. Bouncing of the walls – that vibe. So, yes, we kick them out. Which is, in effect, also kicking ourselves out. “Will do us good,” we say, and we actually mean, “the kids might get tired enough to stop shouting and taunting each other and perhaps even tired enough to go to bed peacefully.”
Sometimes it works. It mainly helps us calm down, and it loads the kids’ moods up with outdoor vibes. It’s not like it’s a bad thing. It’s more – well as much as each walk is different from the last, it never feels like a novel thing to do before we set foot out of the door.
Until last Saturday.
For the first time since the world came grinding to a halt, we had snow.
Not much, not for long, but real natural snow.
I knew it was coming because the weather forecast said so, but we all know that doesn’t count. Seeing it gently slaloming its way down from the sky is what counts. Growing ever giddier as the surfaces remain white and become whiter still because the snow is not melting, that’s what we want. And most of all, hearing the snow give off that muffled crack as we tread on it – that’s when we know, it’s for real. Snow.
As it was cold outside, I was fumbling with my gloves while getting my phone ready to take a picture, and didn’t notice I had created this image until I returned home. So no filter applied here - i just cut out the top and bottom part to have the photo better fit the page. On the image: two children and one adult walk on fields that are dotted with white snow, below a light blueish grey sky. The image has a swirling effect that probably happened from turning my phone while putting it back into my pocket.
We don’t get too much of that in my area. And typically, there’s a lot of fuss in the news about how the cars wouldn’t start (cue some lame statistic from the car support services), how dangerous sit is on the road and ho many extra traffic jams arose (because apparently, plenty of cars could still start anyway), and people complaining about – well, anything. It’s the same stories every year, whenever snow shows its flaky self.
This year, it was so much better. Two reasons: (1) I didn’t watch or listen to any news, and (2) hardly anyone was driving, because Saturday and lockdown.
We went outside, for a long walk. Meeting very few people, especially after we entered the woods, because it was so late the sun had started setting, leaving only pastel pinks and blues behind before a blue-gray sky took over.
I tried not to take too many pictures. I focused on taking in the snow’s effect on the land and on my children.
And when I could see them running together, holding hands, giggling and laughing, I was so happy with my family.
“We’re doing all right”, I thought.
