It's Snowing!!!

It was awesome to peer out my window this morning at the snowflakes drifting past. They were white and fluffy but melted the moment they touched the ground. But it was amazing to observe an act of nature that is considered an anomaly in the central valley of California. Just another reminder that I’m not in Fresno anymore.

In fact, it was the third time in my life to see it snowing. The first time was on a ski trip with some friends not too far from Yosemite. I can’t recall all who went but I do remember Chandra—a foreign student from Indonesia—was there. Not only was it Chandra’s first time to see snow fall but it was also his first time to see snow at all.

Chandra was brave that day. I vividly remember how quick he was to join me in the ski lift that hauled us to the top of the mountain. The entire time he was looking all around him—his normally brown skin pale with fear and apprehension. And he kept repeating: “It’s crazy, it’s crazy…” as his wide eyes swept over the sea of white.

The chair dropped us off at the top and we both swung awkwardly around to peer down the steep icy mountain. Little kids zoomed past us as though they were born on skiis. I wasn’t much of a skier and so my heart was also racing, and I advised Chandra to make steady zigzags across the face of the mountain rather than aiming his skiis straight down.

Not surprisingly, we both fell quite a lot. But before long we were safely at the bottom where Chandra was happy to remain for the rest of the day. But I’ll never forget the courage he displayed that day. Since then I’ve only gone skiing a handful of times. I think I’ll always prefer gazing down at the snow from my third story apartment to standing on two sticks at the top of a mountain.