The Beauty and Wonders of Winter

My eyes were glued to the car window. At every speck of white I saw, a rush of adrenaline flowed through my body. Unfortunately, every time, so far, I’d been disappointed to find out the white I’d seen had been a piece of trash. I was sitting in the back seat of our Subaru Forester with my full grown Pomsky, Miika. I was so excited I could barely keep from standing up and bouncing all over the car. We were going to see snow, and go sledding, for the first time in four years! Beside me, Miika was as excited as I was. The only thing keeping her sitting was me distractedly stroking her fur, my eyes ever looking for snow.  Wolves, by Selena Gomez and Marshmello, was playing on the car radio. 

I knew there was going to be snow, but there was a small, ever growing part of me that thought there might not be snow. I was just about to pull my eyes away from the window and continue looking for ‘tuba’ in the word search on my lap, when something caught my eye. I blinked three times to make sure I wasn’t just seeing things - I wasn’t. The corners of my mouth snuck up my face to form a big smile. Excitement flowed through my body.

“Mama! Dad! There’s snow!” I exclaimed. Miika barked enthusiastically, and my parents cheered. My eyes were glued to the window once more, with a big grin on my face. I had to bite my lip to keep from screaming with joy.

“In fifteen minutes I think we’ll get to the first pull off,” Dad announced. Mama and I whooped. 

Fifteen minutes later, Dad pulled into a parking spot. I opened the car door and leapt outside. My sneakers made a satisfying crunch as they hit the snow. I looked around me in awe. I had forgotten how beautiful snow was. I could see each individual ice crystal twinkling in the late morning sunlight. It was as if someone had flown by in a helicopter and dumped white glitter on everything. Each individual needle on the evergreen trees had frozen over making the trees look like gigantic ice crystals.  My breath came out in steamy puffs as if I were a dragon. I reached down and picked up a small handful of snow in my bare hand. The snow stung my hand before instantly melting. Although it was freezing cold, the snow had been the best thing I’d felt in a long time. 

Miika jumped out of the car, and I watched jealously as she rolled around in the snow. I still had to get my snow gear on. I pulled on my turquoise snow overalls, black starred mittens, gray snow boots, and purple kitty hat. Once I was all geared up, I looked around for the best spot of untouched snow. My eyes locked on a little clearing. I told my parents where I was going before sprinting off, Miika right at my heels. With my boots crunching in the snow, my breath coming out in short steamy gasps, surrounded by beauty, and my Pomsky at my side, I felt truly happy and at ease. 

When I reached the spot, I didn’t hesitate, and belly-flopped into the snow. It wasn’t as soft as I’d expected it to be, but when I rolled over onto my back and looked up into the branches of the snow covered trees, I really didn’t care. 

“Dad is going to go to the store and try to find some ice skates to rent. Would you like to go sledding while we wait, Tara?” Mama asked, coming over with our two toboggan sleds. 

“You bet I would!” I squealed. “Hey, Mama, do you think I could eat some snow?”

“You sure can! Just make sure it’s clean.” My eyes as big as frisbees, I grabbed a little handful of snow in my mitten. I took a cautious nibble. It tasted kind of. . . well, I didn’t know exactly how to describe it, but it tasted awesome! Just like when I’d held it in my hand, the snow melted immediately in my mouth. I wanted to eat more, but Mama was already a little ways down the trail waiting for me. I started to run over to her. Running in the snow was harder than I expected. It was only a little easier than running through water. I had barely gone a few paces when my foot got caught in the snow, and I fell flat on my face. I sat up and smiled. There was snow in my hair, making it look like my hair was made of ice crystals. It was then that I made myself promise that nothing would upset me today. 

“You look like a snow elf!” Mama laughed, and I joined in. From up ahead Miika woofed impatiently. Mama and I continued to trudge through the snow. I managed to keep up by walking in Mama’s footsteps

We had been walking for about twenty minutes when we came to the perfect spot. Before us was a not-too-steep hill, and someone before us had already made a path. There was even a jump! 

“Should we go on the first ride together?” Mama questioned. I hesitated.

“Sure,” I replied slowly. Mama set one sled up against a tree and sat toward the back of the other sled. I got on in front. 

“Are you ready Tara?!” I nodded enthusiastically, and we pushed off. Snow sprayed up into our faces as we zoomed down the hill. I grinned ear to ear. Behind us I was pretty sure I could hear Miika’s paws pound the snow as she chased after us. Mama and I whooped with delight. The jump came closer and closer. I started to get nervous. What if I fell wrong after the jump and got hurt? I decided that whatever was going to happen, it was too late to change my mind. I squeezed my eyes shut and braced myself. 

Suddenly, I heard Mama scream. I took a little peek and started to scream, too. The sled had slid around backwards! We were now facing Miika who was a little ways away up the hill. When were we going to reach the jump? I tensed. I gripped the sled so hard my fingertips hurt. Just as I’d started to relax the slightest bit, we were in the air. Mama and I screamed even louder. It seemed that time had stopped for a second. We hung there in the air, my eyes as wide as frying pans. I held onto the sled as if my life depended on it. Miika was frozen mid-run, tongue hanging out or her mouth. A bird was suspended mid-takeoff. 

Then, before I knew it, gravity took over, and we were speeding back down to solid ground. The sled hit the snow with a bone rattling thud. Our fingers were ripped from the sled, and we were sent tumbling down the hill. Suddenly, I stopped rolling. I lay there on my stomach panting. I rolled over and watched my breath steam out of my mouth. Once I’d calmed down, my shock morphed into delight, and I knew I’d be going down that hill many more times before the day was over.