Snow

I find snow very inspiring.  I love how it forces a slow down.  People pause and take stock.  Literally--  "Do I have enough milk, bread and toilet paper?"  There is the excitement of being snowed in with a sweetheart- of not being able to go anywhere or having to go anywhere.  Your errands can wait.  Chores can wait, too.  One of my favorite things to do when there is a snowstorm- besides watching my senior husky frolic like a puppy outside- is to cook.  Something that takes a long time in a crockpot is best- a chili or a stew.  Nothing beats a good movie to watch while your chili is simmering away...

I think another reason I love snow so much is that in a noisy town like Baltimore, things quiet down when it snows.  Noise is dampened by big fluffy flakes.  Less people are driving like maniacs around town so the noise from cars and trucks and honking horns is diminished.  You don't hear helicoptors buzzing overhead or people yelling down the street to one another.  It's almost like the city gets drowsy and falls asleep.

And of course, everything is painted white.  All the dirtiness of the city is covered under a blanket of white.  At least as far as one can tell, for a little while there is no trash in the streets, no weeds in the yard across the alley, no condom wrappers, no syringes, no beer bottles filled with urine next to a neighbor's stoop.  All there are are white silhouettes of buildings, trees and parked cars.

White is a "color" that captivated my imagination early in my endeavors as a painter.  It is an elusive color to capture on canvas. Painting teachers and professors always want you to paint white still lives to teach you a lesson in how white objects reflect light from objects that surround them.  Snow is the same way.  It is affected by the sky, the sun, the moon, the atmosphere and clouds, the time of day, street lamps and head lights.

I am fascinated by it.  I love when it snows.