>Snow

>It’s snowing. We haven’t had much snow in the Shenandoah Valley the past few years, but we’re getting it today, with about 6″ predicted. It’s been coming down pretty steadily since about 8:00 this morning. Good thing I don’t have to be somewhere. I usually go the gym in the late afternoon, but I’ll get my workout today shoveling snow.

Ironically, in my class last night I taught the short story “Snow” by Julia Alvarez from her novel in stories, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, about a family that immigrates from the Dominican Republic:

“Snow,” I repeated. I looked out the window warily. All my life I had heard about the white crystals that fell out of American skies in the winter. From my desk I watched the fine power dust the sidewalk and parked cars below. Each flake was different, Sister Zoe had said, like a person, irreplaceable and beautiful.

If she thinks that’s beautiful, she should see what’s going on here today.