On the 15th of December, 2009, I couldn't help but write about the snow, from my Southeast Asian, never-experienced-winter perspective. I called this essay Welcome to Winter:
My first winter. My notes this season are best read perhaps by winter novices like myself - those who have grown up in the sunny tropics, in the Philippines's sweltering heat and cold days of 26 degrees Celsius.
About three days ago, I saw my first snow fall of the winter season here in Prague. It was still miniscule, but it was good. Finally the chilly, rainy Novembers had given way to Celsius degrees below zero. Just imagine that you have rainfall, but because temperatures were already at the freezing point, those raindrops had transformed to these tiny slivers of snowflakes as they made their way to you, and to the earth.
There they were, as I made my way across Prague to visit my family away from home to bake Christmas cookies (a Czech tradition for families).
By Sunday, there was icing on the ground. Gone were those sordid puddles of gooky cold water and muddy lanes, all of them had transformed to ice puddles - solid and slidy.
Today is Tuesday, and as I set out for the post office, I was in awe the entire time, as I saw more snow fall. They were small at first, but eventually, the snowflakes were getting a little larger by the time I made my way to the bus stop to commute to the center of Prague.
Awesome, how beautiful it was. At 29, walking down Prosek with snow fall all around me, I was just in awe, in wonderment (I invented a word), I felt like a little child, seeing something for the first time.
Well, that's because this is my first winter.
I've seen a little freak snow in Arizona once, in the middle of April when it suddenly got too cold.
But this was something else. Not the wet, dirty snow melting the morning after outside your camper - this was the first of winter, the beginnings of a white Christmas, just like in those wintery postcards where there's inches of snow and a naked tree beside it.
Snowflakes, snowflakes, snowflakes. I was standing there agape and would have longer if I didn't have to rush to the Philippine Embassy. Snowflakes. I felt like such a child, so surprised at the snow, the snowflakes, so surprised I would hold out my gloved hands to catch a few snowflakes in my palm, laugh with glee when I did, and stare at the snowflakes on my gloves in perfect fascination.
Truly magnificent, God's nature.
About three days ago, I saw my first snow fall of the winter season here in Prague. It was still miniscule, but it was good. Finally the chilly, rainy Novembers had given way to Celsius degrees below zero. Just imagine that you have rainfall, but because temperatures were already at the freezing point, those raindrops had transformed to these tiny slivers of snowflakes as they made their way to you, and to the earth.
There they were, as I made my way across Prague to visit my family away from home to bake Christmas cookies (a Czech tradition for families).
By Sunday, there was icing on the ground. Gone were those sordid puddles of gooky cold water and muddy lanes, all of them had transformed to ice puddles - solid and slidy.
Today is Tuesday, and as I set out for the post office, I was in awe the entire time, as I saw more snow fall. They were small at first, but eventually, the snowflakes were getting a little larger by the time I made my way to the bus stop to commute to the center of Prague.
Awesome, how beautiful it was. At 29, walking down Prosek with snow fall all around me, I was just in awe, in wonderment (I invented a word), I felt like a little child, seeing something for the first time.
Well, that's because this is my first winter.
I've seen a little freak snow in Arizona once, in the middle of April when it suddenly got too cold.
But this was something else. Not the wet, dirty snow melting the morning after outside your camper - this was the first of winter, the beginnings of a white Christmas, just like in those wintery postcards where there's inches of snow and a naked tree beside it.
Snowflakes, snowflakes, snowflakes. I was standing there agape and would have longer if I didn't have to rush to the Philippine Embassy. Snowflakes. I felt like such a child, so surprised at the snow, the snowflakes, so surprised I would hold out my gloved hands to catch a few snowflakes in my palm, laugh with glee when I did, and stare at the snowflakes on my gloves in perfect fascination.
Truly magnificent, God's nature.
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