The morning of February 1st we had an obnoxious storm. It had started out as rain but turned into a wet and heavy snow. Normally I would not have given it a whole lot of thought and just hunkered down at home until it was over and the roads were cleared. But later that morning my son had an important dental appointment in August, about a 35 minute drive north. I had to go out in the weather and I was a little annoyed by it.
As things would have it the snow had stopped just before we had to leave. The roads in town were a little rough but once we got out on the high, which was the majority of our trip, the roads were find.
With the winter rain that had fallen first, creating an icy foundation for the snow, it caused the snow to stick fast to everything it fell on. The drive turned out to be a half hour of breathtaking scenic views
On ether side of the highway there were rows of trees covered in thick snow. The frosted look on the deep color of the evergreens was a gorgeous contrast and the bare winter branches of the leafy trees were bare no more. Instead they looked to be covered in white spring blossoms. Along the way there would be patches of ground with no trees. In these place instead were tall, yellow wild grasses with dried leaning cattails sticking out of the smooth windblown snow. Every couple of feet I would gasp and say to my children, “Just look how beautiful the earth is!”
Every now and again a gust of wind would dart quickly across the road and grab up some snow and toss it into the air. The snow was wet and heavy so it did not swirl around in the air as it usually does, rather it would shoot up into the air and create a frosty arch over the high way. And we would just drive right under it with soft blue skies up ahead of us.
I found myself saying a prayer of both an apology for my original annoyance at the weather and of gratitude for the opportunity I had to see it all. If Asher had not had that appointment I would have just stayed home and inside until the full glory of the day had been diminished with time.
This earth is truly glorious!
There was some general talk about going on a temple trip on a bus with a group of other people. And although I do not remember talking directly to him about it I just sort of knew I would be going with my ex-husband. I felt uneasy about the trip and did not want to go. I kept saying things like, “Maybe this time I wont go.” or ‘I don’t think I want to go.” The thing of it was I did want to go to the temple. I very much wanted to be in the temple I just didn’t want to in that way.
(This was written on March 12th, 2017)
