Frostbitten Beauty

We had the first proper snowfall of the season today, and already I'm dancing around humming "Ho, Ho, Ho - Merry Xmas!" to myself :) I haven't dared humming it out loud yet, as I'm afraid people will think I'm even more mental than I am ;) lol

It's so beautiful outside right now; the dark, wet, light-stealing surfaces of autumn replaced by a bright, white carpet that reflects the light that shines on it. The way the first snowfall seems to caress the ground, almost cuddling it in a huuuuge white blanket is an endearing sight. And I hope the temperatures now stay in the region that causes the snow to stay white, and not turn into a beige, wet slush that makes it impossible to walk outside without getting soaked (leading to the sniffles, leading to possible pneumonia). Hehe, but enough about my inbuilt fatalism ;)

I wrote a song once upon a time, about the love affair between the new snow and the autumn leaves. I have a tendency to forget about it, until once a year when I see the new snow creeping slowly further and further down the mountainside, and it comes back to me. Isn't it a nice thing to picture? The new snow and the autumn leaves longing for each other all year, but like most of the really passionate love affairs I know of, their love is all consuming.

It starts with the new snow only visiting at night, retreating when the day comes. You can see the autumn leaves glittering with happiness and the frosty gifts the snow has left her with. And the next night he comes back. And the next. And they can't stop thinking about each other. But they come from different worlds. Her from the warmths of summer and he from the colds of winter - and the only time they can meet is in those few nights of autumn. Their passion is strong, having been away from each other for so long, and they forget the dangers their relationship poses to themselves - all they want is to be together. And one day, the night turns into day and the new snow does not retreat to the mountaintops, and the autumn leaves suffocate and die in the arms of her lover.

And so it ends - as the greatest love-stories do - in tragedy. Their all-consuming love leads to their end. For the leaves cannot live in the embrace of the snow, and love alone is not enough to change their fate. And that is why, I think, that when the new snow settles on the ground, it looks like a soft, white blanket. To cuddle the one he loves and lost, until next autumn when they get to see each other again :)