The snow, fresh and clean, the exhalation of the Arctic gods, has come and gone.
After the snow, clear skies prevailed and a deep, icy chill set in. Snow has the capacity to reflect a large amount of the sun’s light that falls on it. Newly formed snow reflects about 90% of the sunlight that falls upon it. The nuclear furnace that warms our planet and provides the three basic necessities of life on earth (food, water, and oxygen), is nearly powerless when it comes to melting clean snow.
After a few days the snow turned to ice, that slippery, mysterious solid. Scientists continue to debate why ice is slippery. For those of us attempting to traverse it, the important thing to know is that it is slippery, not necessarily why.
Just as the ice begins to clear, another round of snow arrives, painting the ground white, frosting the leafless trees in the yard. Three more inches, but they wouldn't last a day. That night brought warmer weather and rain instead of snow; by morning only the drifts against the fences remained.
The chickens have returned to being early birds, the heat lamp no longer provides a constant yellow-orange glow in the coop and the cats are venturing out again. Cabin fever has been abated. Life is good.
It snowed last night. Not the wimpy almost an inch that would blanket the valley floor in Medford OR, but honest to goodness show. Large, dry snowflakes fell in silence, deep and white, for several hours while we slept.
Morning brought sc
attered light and the realization there was over three inches of the powdery white stuff blanketing our yard. The cat was unsure of what to make of it, but went outside anyway; she returned in short order, shaking one wet paw at a time. The chickens have decided there are no worms today, so they don't feel obligated to be early birds, but instead remain homebodies in the coop, warmed by the heat lamp.
The skiers and boarders will be happy, as the Mt. Baker Ski Area will open today, with 8 inches of snow in the last 24 hours. Here in the lower lands, there are no large drifts, no snow plows, no need to shovel the walk. It's enough for making snow angels, snowmen (and women) and snowballs, which is enough for me.
Snow, fresh and clean, the exhalation of the Arctic gods.
Each of us, at some point in our lives, realize kindness is not something to be overlooked. Someone or something left a bad taste in our mouths; the class bully, an offensive joke, name calling. Those memories stay with us; at that moment in our lives, the way we thought and felt about other people changed.
Kindness can bring happiness into our lives. It can change the way other people look at us, and, more importantly, the way we feel about other people. I have met many people I may not have liked, but that never caused me to be unki
nd to them. Being kind to someone I did not appreciate allowed me to learn to see them from a different perspective.
November 13 is World Kindness Day, intended to build a kinder and more compassionate world. It is not a day created by the greeting card industry, but rather, an opportunity to look beyond ourselves, beyond the boundaries of our country, beyond our culture, our race, our religion; and realize we are citizens of the world.
It is not a day celebrated or even generally recognized in the United States. That, in and of itself, is a shame. When did it become so unusual that people have quizzical looks on their faces when the door is held open for them? I recently held the door open for my family as we left a restaurant and I kept holding it, knowing there was a woman behind me with a large take-out bag. She and a few other people in my line of sight just stared, perhaps waiting for me to hold out my hand and expect a tip.
I read about a survey which showed nearly 80 percent of Americans agree that "a lack of respect and courtesy is a serious national problem." When is the last time you heard eight out of ten Americans agree on anything?
We all have feelings, yet we don't always recognize that other people have then as well. We have trouble taking people at face value, waiting for skeletons to jump out of that person's closet. It is any wonder, what with hours of backstabbing and treachery on network television "reality" shows each and every week, that we may smile but wait for the worst to happen?
Kindness pays most when you don't do it for pay. Choose to make a difference. When a retail clerk or a restaurant server ask how you are, ask then how they are. Say "please" and "thank you" on a regular basis. Make goofy faces at babies. Do not let kindness become passe.
Autumn tells a beautiful story. Harvest time, stocking up for the long winter season ahead; firewood, fruit preserves, the last vegetables from the garden. A time of festivity and reunion. Colorful leaves, the smell of candles from glowing carved jack-o-lanterns in the twilight.
Earth and sky are in transition during the autumn months. Trees become painted in shades of red, orange, and yellow, leaves clinging to their branches in the November wind, eventually 
surrendering them to the cycle of rebirth by providing nourishment to the ground below from which the tree itself grew. The night sky changes from summer's dazzling display to a less intense area of celestial sights, dominated by Cassiopeia, the Queen of the night sky and Pegasus the flying horse.
A time of satisfaction, a time of tranquility. Much like the last bowl of porridge, it's not too hot nor too cold., it's just right.
Nights are longer, air is colder, the apples have all been picked, the shadows lengthen. Lawns shed the gold of summer and become green again as a result of the cool nights and more frequent moisture. The summer furniture and umbrellas have been put away, replaced by pumpkins and mums. It is Nature's way; things wind down and return to the earth.
This is the story Autumn tells.
