The sky tonight is that same dull reflected shade of salmon that always reminds me of snow. I know it is really just the same orange of nighttime light pollution reflected off of clouds and diffused through the soft flakes. Still, it is bright compared with the ordinary rust color of a rainy night sky in the city. I remember looking outside one night as a child and knowing that it would snow. The only difference I'd seen was the color of the clouds.
I actually spent some time outside tonight. As a full-time parent, there are too many days when I don't bother going outside at all during colder weather. Errands don't quite count except to get a sense of the temperature outdoors. It is nice to just go outside at night and feel the silence. The snow has a comforting quiet to it when the neighborhood is asleep. I can just inhabit the yard, feeling the chill normalizing my body temperature and let my mind absorb the previous day.
( musing... )