More creative things to do with snow

1. Snow men, women, children, snow bears, snow angels - I made my first angel in the snow fall before Christmas. B took a photo to prove it. I pass a group of boys in the park, dragging sledges. One says, my dad used to walk over that lake on the ice. Before that chat with the man in the garage I'd been thinking of it as a dangerous place for dogs to run (one died there before Christmas), but now I can see ghosts of boys having fun.

2. Thinking about the Neusiedler See in winter. Once we found the locals skating, old people pushing chairs to keep upright. I walk very carefully holding B's hand. When we get near the rushes we can hear the ice creaking. We walk away quickly to where the ice is thick and white. We feel we have walked into a Brueghel painting.

3. Epiphany. I take down the Christmas decorations with relief, it's time to look forward to spring. I remember that time in Austria, deep in snow, visiting a large old house to find a shop or cafe, and seeing some children disappearing round the corner, giggling, dressed up as the three kings. It felt like a slip in time. I hope this year will be full of ephiphanies.