HUSHED,

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HUSHED, WHITE WORLD
(Playing ~ "Winter Wonderland")

"It snowed and snowed, the whole world over,
Snow swept the world from end to end."
~ Pasternak, "Winter Night"

How beautiful it was! When I stepped out into that hushed, white world I had the awesome feeling that everyone
was in the same neighborhood. In my apple tree the cardinals were unusually charming in their brilliant red.
Jumping in astonishment from branch to branch, they sent puffs of soft snow to the ground. Lovely
snow sculptures appeared on front lawns, porches, even on cars and trucks. Snow sports so rare in North Texas
were a delight to old and young alike.

The episode was not without frustration. We are creatures of wheels, and when our wheels are stopped we go daft
in a hurry. Complaints of "cabin fever" were tossed around freely. As the children grew tired of the snow,
the parents grew tired of the children. Frustration led to improvisation––the can of beans that had been in
the cupboard since June was mixed with the cheese and other bits and pieces from the refrigerator to make
an acceptable casserole. We made hot drinks of all kinds and discovered we could keep warm if we wore
at least three layers of clothing.

And there was time––to read a book so long delayed, answer Christmas letters by return mail, clean closets
for an organized New Year, exchange disaster stories….

Now that all of the snow and ice have melted, we have almost forgotten how cold we were.
But when we’re sweating in July we can look at our snapshots or take that foot–long icicle out
of the freezer and remember.

"Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow?" Job 38:22

~ by Mary Ann Shropshire Barnhart
copyright © by the author

Thanks to Mary Ann, my long-time good friend and former college roommate, for permission
to use her beautiful and timely writing. This is especially true at the time of this posting,
the Winter of 2002-2003, although she wrote this piece about 1979-80.

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