Yesterday and today we have seen unusual amounts of snow in Birmingham, UK. It rarely snows here and when it does the country usually comes to a standstill; schools close, people can't go to work, public transport comes to a halt as well as general traffic. For continental Europeans or people form colder climates this might sound ridiculous but if you only have snow once or twice a year and then for one or two days it's not worth to invest in heavy snow plough machinery or alpine equipment.
The press claims the snow is a threat to life and something dangerous, however, I want to look at the bright side.
Yesterday, my neighbour was unable to drive to work as the roads were too icy and the van wouldn't move. Schools were close, so he spend the day with his kids building a snowman and sledging. I saw him a few times and his cheeks were flushed with red from the cold and he was happier than most days I see him. His youngest son was excited to experience snow and be able to go sledging in the local park.
Snow is magical; it glitters in sun light, it melts in your hand, the flakes look like mysterious star shapes and are just beautiful, it seems to dampen sounds and everything appears clean and peaceful.
We are lucky to be working from home and left work be work and spend the day with our boys building a snowman and trying to teach them what a snowball fight is. Those are the lessons and things they will remember when they grow up. People will talk about today for a while remembering how lovely it was when everything went quite with a white snow cover. We met neighbours and the community out and about enjoying a snowball fight, laughing and being light hearted, enjoying the moment rather than worrying about tomorrow.
This was the first time my younger son saw snow and he kept pointing and wondering what it was all about. Snowflakes would land on his eyelashes and he would open and close his eyes trying to get them off. It was wonderful to watch the awe. My older son couldn't stop touching the snow even though it made his hands go cold and his gloves wet. He licked, ate, through, step on it and kept calling it ice because snow was beyond his understanding (note to self, need to google how to explain the difference between ice and snow). We listened to 'Frosty the snow man' about a hundred times and when they woke up this morning and the snowman was still in the garden the joy was endless.
This is an effort to provide positive news instead of headline grabbing negative, fear inferring mainstream media articles that scare people into overestimating the threat of terrorism, murder and other awful things.