I'm Melting . . .

Though not two weeks ago twenty inches of snow fell here in Wisconsin—more snow than we had all winter—it has since all melted. As I look out my windows, there is veritably no snow on the ground. Along the sides of my driveway there are still two big mounds of snow where the plow piles it up, and, of course, it takes much longer for it to melt. What we have there is basically these snow structures that people actually may live in, and if I was a real Wisconsin resident, I would know what they are called. But alas, what I love about winter most is that it offers me an excuse to stay indoors.

The temperature is not the significant factor in the melting snow, though certainly it plays a large part. Actually, the earth’s warmth derives from the new angle of the sun’s rays on the earth. It is Spring, finally Spring. And the rapidly melting snow has made the earth all mushy and muddy; I slurp and slip everywhere, and my soles are all mud-caked. It’s a bit inconvenient, but somehow I don’t at all mind. I love it. Under the mud, there is even some green peeking up, warning me to tune up the mower.

Walden is melting apace; what once was dead is alive again!