Snowflakes

I love snowflakes. And if you ask me I will tell you that they are like unicorns but better. Because they are real. I can’t quite put my finger on the exact moment when I fell in love with them but I do remember drawing little stick versions of them in middle school or high school.

Growing Up Snowless

Yep, that’s me. I’m not sure how old I was but I raised that lamb. In central California, it was only green for a few days a year.

Being born and raised in central California was not exactly the habitat for major snow events. I may have seen it 2 times at my home and once on a family vacation. But those few instances left me in such awe. I remember it falling so quietly but there was so much movement! It was dancing everywhere just like the ballet dancers that mimic its movement in the Waltz of the Snowflakes at productions of the Nutcracker.

This is the view I was most used to seeing, golden. That’s me again, got to love those carefree moments in life.

Logically, I understood that snow happened and just trusted that it would produce unique star-shaped crystals. With such limited exposure to frozen precipitation, I had no way to know for certain.

A Birthday Gift

On my 19^th birthday, my mama gifted me a beautiful coffee table book. This book confirmed the existence of snowflakes on a scientific front. The author captured snowflakes in the wild on a slide for a microscope. Then with a camera affixed to the microscope, he photographed them at insane levels of magnification. Some in blue light and some in iridescent light. The high resolution of the photos depicted just how different each snowflake really is and not simply different but intricate.

These photos put my stick figure flakes to shame.

The book I was gifted on my birthday. “The Art of the Snowflake” by Kenneth Libbrecht.

Still Just a Theory

At this point with all the evidence, a snowflake was still just a theory to me. I had no first-hand proof that they existed. Since receiving the snowflake book, I have gone to college, got married, and started a new career. It was when I was arriving for work one cold day that my life changed.

Yes, I hear you. Calling this a life-changing event may be a bit dramatic but I will remember it like my wedding day and the birth of each of my children.

A little foggy.

Where time sped up and stood still at the same time.

And with joy in my heart.

Oh! Look snow!

Snow that was fluffy but not flakey.

I was pulling into my parking space and something fluttery was dusting around. Being that I was a few minutes early I just parked and kind of watched. Snowflakes. (Imagine high pitched girlish scream here)

Here it was! My unicorn. They had five points. And little branches. Some webbed and some not.

And they were real! I wished I had a magnifying glass to observe them closer. Sitting in a parked car with that much excitement made the windows fog up a bit so that was a pain in the neck. Then the handful of extra minutes I had before needing to be at my desk was suddenly not enough time. For the excitement and joy at such a small thing were hard to contain.

It Strikes Again

Finally, snowflakes again. December 2022.

Some years have passed since first seeing those beautiful snowflakes. I hoped to see them again and swore that work would be put aside to appreciate them more. I got that chance about two weeks ago. It got cold here in North Texas again and my husband had warned me that there was a small chance of precipitation.

When I went up to the window I was thrilled to see little snowflakes. They are just as magical as ever.

Image above: December 2022.