Snow & Sand

I now observe, with my growing age, patterns in my life. Years go by in flashes of soft white; between snow and sand.

As Winter falls across the north in deep cold, I relish in the snow like a new playground. From my childhood to today, we'd sled everywhere, have endless snowball fights, build igloos, go skating, go skiing, make hot chocolate and stay cozy with our noses and cheeks a glowing pink. I love all the wonderful fun of decorating the house with holly, singing by the fire and having great roast meals with family and friends. Winter just makes sense then. The freeze awakens the mind, and everything you took for granted suddenly seems special, with a touch of magic.

The pattern is that I’d fully enjoy the freshness of winter for a month or two, then end up somewhere on a beach. Suddenly, no more mountains to ski on, no more holly jolly Christmas. Instead, here is a new adventure. While the sand in the Bahamas is as white as snow, the air is sunny, warm and forgiving. Palms replace pines, potcakes replace reindeers. The calendar takes a vacation too, and you become separated from the holiday cold and craze, now floating on an island of eternal summer.

The luxury of both worlds.

They are not paradoxical, but actually perfectly complimentary. The mountain and the sea both hold the terrible, unknown heights of the world. Men are desperate to know them deeply, and are lost to their frightening turns in weather.

To stand before their great, unmoving and fearless stature is to face the depths of humankind. The alps and the Atlantic have always held me in the same, dumb awe, for the immense history and wisdom they have known. It echoes in their tempests and their fantastic sunsets: the growling power of Nature. It is a strength we will always seek to seize, no matter how impossible.

These are the thoughts that come to me when I watch the great ocean from the beach, having been on the ski slopes only a week before. To know both of their depths, their changing faces within the same season is the greatest gift of fortune. Winter bows to Nature, as we all do.

What joy, what luck!

I like this Winter pattern, with a hand on a snowball and a toe in the sea.