The thing I like best about newly fallen snow is how it dampens the noise of life. Not only does it cover the ground, but it also blankets sounds. The lowered tones of my neighbor’s voice, the muffled crunch of tires driving by, and the repeated scrape of shovels up and down the street, don’t pierce my ear like the sometimes intrusive noise of summer. Instead the insulated sounds of a snowy day encourage books, tea, and blankets . . . but only after I shovel. (ugh)

Love, February
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