in children's literature, snowfall is the trigger for tables to turn. it creates a moment in which the adult protectors are easily incapacitated and introduces a world in which children are agile and wild enough to survive. in the monumental battles these children face, the great are brought low and the weak rise up in power. this can happen only in the depths of midwinter, when the ordinary features of the world are erased. snow vanquishes the mundane. it brings the everyday to a grinding halt and delays our abiity to address our dreary responsibilities. snow opens up the reign of the children, high on their unexpected liberty...

katherine may, wintering

 

it's snowing again. i remember jumping off the roof into a story of snow. i remember making tunnels in the snow and rooms to hide out in and turn around. to make a space to turn around. i remember the feeling coming back out into the open, squinting and exhaling warm clouds. now i see distantly, my eyes are dimming, and i feel danger and fear of the future. i can feel the mythical moment but as a book of refuge or a window looking out at snow falling forever.