blueerica
01-06-2009, 05:18 PM
The weekend after Christmas, J and I went up to the mountains to go tubing. We like to go to a ski resort that has great runs, and a 'lift' that pulls you and your tube up the hill. As good as it is to not have to trudge up the fairly steep run, it's also nice to have time to throw snowballs with J, or just think about things as you're headed up.
While we were up there, it began to snow. I didn't think much of it until I was staring at my black snow pants and I saw snowflakes. And by snowflakes, I'm not talking about the powdery, the chunky, the wet, or any kind of snowflake that I see on an almost daily basis off the mountain... I'm talking about perfect snowflakes. Big ones, where I could see every detail, I could see six arms in their identical perfection. They were all different... just like I'd been told.
Here's a cool website that came up right away during my search on snowflakes. (http://www.its.caltech.edu/~atomic/snowcrystals/)
In all honesty, I think I've seen a perfect snowflake before, but I really don't remember when. Until this past year, snowy areas I've spent time in were primarily low altitude, and by the time snowflakes got to me, they were probably all beaten up by the wind. If nothing else, this was the first time I really realized how amazing they truly were.
Today, on my way out to the parking lot across the street from my office building, more snowflakes were coming down, and it got me to thinking about my perfect Rocky Mountain snowflakes. I looked at what was gently falling upon my dark parka, and they weren't even close... just clumps and chunks, broken bits and pieces of what was perhaps once a perfect snowflake... just stuff flitting off the mountaintops, banging into buildings and streetlights, only to end up as the dirty road snow I've come to loathe.
But really, what are snowflakes. By the time most of us see them, we're thinking about shovels and snowblowers, brushing off our cars and digging our way out of our driveways. We're probably also thinking about all those stupid drivers, going too fast, too slow, swerving everywhere. And for what? Just to get out of the way of a little snowflake.
While we were up there, it began to snow. I didn't think much of it until I was staring at my black snow pants and I saw snowflakes. And by snowflakes, I'm not talking about the powdery, the chunky, the wet, or any kind of snowflake that I see on an almost daily basis off the mountain... I'm talking about perfect snowflakes. Big ones, where I could see every detail, I could see six arms in their identical perfection. They were all different... just like I'd been told.
Here's a cool website that came up right away during my search on snowflakes. (http://www.its.caltech.edu/~atomic/snowcrystals/)
In all honesty, I think I've seen a perfect snowflake before, but I really don't remember when. Until this past year, snowy areas I've spent time in were primarily low altitude, and by the time snowflakes got to me, they were probably all beaten up by the wind. If nothing else, this was the first time I really realized how amazing they truly were.
Today, on my way out to the parking lot across the street from my office building, more snowflakes were coming down, and it got me to thinking about my perfect Rocky Mountain snowflakes. I looked at what was gently falling upon my dark parka, and they weren't even close... just clumps and chunks, broken bits and pieces of what was perhaps once a perfect snowflake... just stuff flitting off the mountaintops, banging into buildings and streetlights, only to end up as the dirty road snow I've come to loathe.
But really, what are snowflakes. By the time most of us see them, we're thinking about shovels and snowblowers, brushing off our cars and digging our way out of our driveways. We're probably also thinking about all those stupid drivers, going too fast, too slow, swerving everywhere. And for what? Just to get out of the way of a little snowflake.