The Snowy Countryside

You come to a stop in the snow. Your red, white, and black Atomic cross-country skis quiet underneath you. Your arms rest on your long, skinny, black Rossignol poles. The sun is setting. The snow around you is pristine, untouched. You look out over the snowy field and see the setting sun has turned the snow golden and blue. Looking into the sky, you see massive, fluffy snowflakes floating ever so slowly down to Earth. You are mesmerized at the fact that these snowflakes haven’t a care in the world. They move slowly as if they are in slow motion.

The snow muffles all sounds to make it seemingly silent. You close your eyes and savor in the quiet, still moment. Your heart is warm, though the cold begins to bite at your fingertips and toes now that you have stopped moving. You hoped your warm, purple SmartWool socks would keep you warm but the cold still seeps through the wool. You can imagine your nose is turning pink. Exhaling deeply, you can see your breath in front of you.

You feel truly happy in this moment. The worries of the world slip away from you. They fall from your head along with the snowflakes. Nothing matters right now except the beauty of the snowy countryside around you.