OUt in the cOld?

Familiar yet foreign

It would be easy
to stay inside,
to let the cold
put us off.

And why not when
the weather app
on the phone reads,
"14°F, feels like -1°F."

But yesterday's snow
transformed the 
landscape and it's
hard to resist.

So we bundle up and
set off like toddlers stuffed
into snow pants, puffy jackets,
boots, hats, mittens, and scarves,
barely able to bend an arm or leg.

And it's beautiful.

The cold has preserved the
snow and it clings to every
rooftop, rail, and ridge,
twig, branch, and
tree trunk.

There's a hush over the 
landscape, and the loop trail
we walk most days appears more
foreign than familiar.

So we follow the tracks
of others, break trail to make
our own, and pause to consider
the comfort of the snow-cushioned
bench at the edge of the field.

And while our fingertips tingle,
our eyes water from the cold,
and we sniffle and shiver against
the frigid landscape, we wrap
ourselves in its beauty, like the
snow-covered Buddha.

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