February 16, 2007 - Photo #0009 - "Two Handfuls of Frozen Water"

Growing up in Montreal, snow was always seen as a cold, wintry, achromatic adversary. Road blocker, car staller, toe freezer and general miscreant. This is a basic fact of life here in Montreal; snow is not something to be marveled, it just exists and can be counted on every year.

Tonight though, I watched Travis touch it and feel it like it was something magical and foreign. His eyes sparkled like a child's. The texture, he said, was soft and light, but sparkled like a handful of powdered diamonds. This was just a statement of the obvious, and seemed unimportant until I realized that to someone who has never really seen snow, it truly is a marvel, a force of nature that is, on its own, beautiful.

Holding aloft two handfuls of frozen water seemed so meaningless until now, but it gave me pause to realize that the mundane can become exciting, and that nothing should be taken for granted.

I'm happy to be home.