'Bad' Weather

We're in the midst of a run of cold, snowy weather, as is much of the United States. There's about four inches of crusty snow blanketing the ravine behind the house, turning what often seems like a chaotic wasteland into a well-planned work of art. The trees, each having found its own preferred angle to the sloping ground, provide a lattice-like framework for the fields beyond. The neighbor's barn, usually a preposterous orange blight, now looks as if Currier and Ives themselves had placed it there. The squirrels and winter birds take to the stage on downed logs that, in the spareness of late autumn, suggested only death and decay. Set against a backdrop of white, the wandering deer appear somehow more majestic, almost like elk seen at a distance. While snow in the front of the house is a nuisance that interferes with modern, civilized life, snow behind the house only enhances and beautifies the natural life.