The air outside is frigid, the ground is covered in snow and my heart is warm. These are the days of wonder and magic, when New Englanders test their merit and earn their rugged, come-what-may reputation (some of us, anyway).
Yes, it’s tempting to retreat indoors, to crank the heat and curl up on the couch with a good book — certainly, there’s a time and place for that — but if you blink, you’ll miss the incredible beauty that’s right outside your back door.
At the height of a recent storm, I ventured out into the stillness to find that nostalgic emptiness that resides between snowflakes.
And I found it.
As I recall from the warmth of my cozy couch (like I said, there’s a time and a place for it), my heartbeat slowed; the trees creaked; my mind wandered faster than my feet.
Next month will mark just about one year since the pandemic was fully realized in Franklin County. By now, I think just about everyone knows someone who has tragically passed because of the virus. We’ve all been changed.
It’s been a really difficult era.
In this, I’m grateful for long walks through peaceful snowstorms, during which I find inevitably solitude that’s profoundly healing.
Of course, this is easier said than done; as all New Englanders know, it’s always that first step that’s the most difficult to take — bundling up, venturing out into the frigid air. Oftentimes, this column is written as much to myself as it is to you, reader — I’m as guilty as anyone of opting for the latest television show instead of braving the cold (even if the latter is ultimately better for my mental wellbeing).
And I recognize that for some it’s just not possible to experience nature in a very physical sense.
But even when I’m trying to avoid the outdoors, nature finds me — maybe it’s the way the morning sunlight slants through the blinds, or the particularly intriguing way in which a plant spills off its shelf. I can’t help but notice.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from stay-at-home orders and social distancing, it’s the importance nature — a salve that can soothe even the most troubled mind; a void, found between snowflakes, that affords blissful solitude and peace.