A friend drove me home from the dance studio this cold, blustery afternoon, and every once in a while, we’d see a tiny spot of white.
When I realized what I was seeing, I exclaimed, “Look! A snowflake!” A few minutes later, she made the same exclamation as she pointed out a flake.
I’m sure this fuss over a single flake or two of snow seems silly for those of you who have been all but buried in the stuff this winter, but for a couple of desert denizens, these few flakes amounted to a full blizzard.
Once upon a time, perhaps thirty years ago, more than two feet of snow fell in the desert, but I’ve only seen flurries a couple of times since I’ve been here, and whatever stuck to the ground disappeared as soon as the sun came out. The last time I saw any real snow was three years ago when a friend invited me to go snow hunting. Out here, where it seldom even rains, snow seems a mythical phenomenon. And yep, sure enough, we did find snow — enough to throw a couple of snowballs around; enough to chill our feet.
And we weren’t the only ones flocking to the nearby mountain to gog at the snow that long-ago day — the roads were all but impassable because of the traffic.
Today there was only a bit of dusting on the surrounding mountains, but even here in the desert, we got to see a snowflake. Or two.
Such high excitement!
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Pat Bertram is the author of the suspense novels Unfinished, Madame ZeeZee’s Nightmare, Light Bringer, More Deaths Than One, A Spark of Heavenly Fire, and Daughter Am I. Bertram is also the author of Grief: The Great Yearning, “an exquisite book, wrenching to read, and at the same time full of profound truths.” Connect with Pat on Google+. Like Pat on Facebook.
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