Today, the moment that our southerly weather forecast had been promising for weeks happened: it snowed. Sorting through mountains of old paperwork in the name of creating some order, I looked up and there they were, fat flakes of ice crystals began falling from the sky.
Snow always appears to me as one of the most extraordinarily silent phenomenons, as if leaving room for the kids to fill the space with their shrieks of joy. Already out the front investigating the frozen pond, they were beyond excited. Something new to see – and do, in the name of sledging, snow ball fights and snowmen.
I say by the fire, like a hibernating animal watching it all from a half-sleepy eye. I love the intrigue and beauty of snow but I’m not a big fan of the cold and thus I observed it and the kids through the paperwhite blooms on the windowsill pledging to join them later if it settled.
In the end the kids made it over to Chingford, where they were heading for a run around anyway but now armed with a sledge and a couple of giant trays (where did they come from?!) on which to glide down the hill. And I carried on sorting (a needs must kind of thing) while marvelling at how something that appears so soft and weightless while falling in tiny clusters can quickly flatten the tallest grasses with its cumulative icy mass.
I also read recently that snow is known as ‘poor man’s fertilizer’, picking up nitrogen and sulphur as it falls from the air, which can then make their way into the soil as it melts. Both nitrogen and sulphur are essential plant nutrients so this sound like good news. I can’t help feeling that some of the plants are not feeling that overjoyed by its freezing presence, however.
The poor man’s fertiliser thing is not simply a myth. Snow does indeed deliver elements such as nitrogen, but so does rain, hail, sleet and even lightening. How precipitation picks up these vital plant growth components and compounds is another question – some recent research suggests that much of it now comes from pollution, which leads to further thoughts about the need for balance in our elements and ecosystems.
Of course, my mind-wanderings could also be connected to the fact that I urgently need to balance my financial records in the name of getting my elusive tax return done. By the time I’ve finished burning piles of out-dated records and assimilating the newest one, the snow has stopped falling and I’ve missed the boat on my personal moment of childish snow-laden glee.
I’m glad the boys had their moment in the snow though, however brief the white out. In terms of happy nutrients for fast-growing, locked-down humans, the poor man’s fertiliser delivered on all counts.