Waking up to soft wet snow falling was a treat, like opening a gift on Christmas morning that you are totally not expecting, but that is the most perfect present you could imagine. Stopping to walk, the absolute stillness and peace filled me with warmth, snowflakes gathering on my black jacket, bedazzling me with winter’s love and grace.

I could hear the soft pith, pith, pith of each flake falling, and yet such deep silence clothed the world around me. Picking up my running pace, a tiny squeak sounded as each shoe hit the snowy road. A badger traveled parallel to me in the stubble field, finally ducking into his hole by a power pole. A chicken hawk swooped down from his perch when I passed, only to land on the next pole above me as I went on.

I think the Christmas lights, still on our house and the little apple tree, must have called this snow in, for there is nothing so filled with joy and peace as colored lights shining in falling snow.