Snow

I've met people who've never seen snow. I've also seen people experience it for the first time. It brings out a child-like joy. To see the graceful dance of snowflaskes on the wind makes it hard not to smile even through the cold.

Most people know what snow is, what it looks like, it's icy wetness. They've seen the sparkling blanket that covers like a new coat of pure white paint. Only high gloss can't do justice to the sheen of a snow covered vista. It's a pale blue glow on a clear evening or a billion points of sunlight.

But in Alaska, and to a lesser extent North Dakota, there's so much open space, such sheer beauty that a little frosting makes something dazzling even more so. Sometimes just standing on the porch you find it hard to breath and it has nothing to do with the cold.