An EE=MD2 ™ Short Story!
Lovely is an early morning snowfall when you can dwell inside your warm home. Sitting under a warm blanket and next to an open window overlooking some trees is a nice way to watch the wonder of snowflakes falling. Yet in winter wonderlands of life, duty calls for snow removal in addition to daily chores and duties.
Shelves of Snowflakes
What I remember is early winter morning drives with my child(ren) on some errand or to some event. Driving from our home took us across a less travelled divided highway through a bit of farm land with trees here and there. The winter wonderland of freshly fallen snow, early in the morning is unmatched. The first vista startles with the beauty of fluffy white gathering across the land.
When you drive carefully, but look a bit closer to see the trees for the forest, a sudden and spectacular realization fills your eyes. Like tight-rope walkers or a line up of cadets, snowflakes glide to rest first upon a branch of whatever size and then upon the snowflakes resting on the branch itself and then atop those snowflakes. The spectacle captures wonder that such tiny snowflakes each unique can collect by the hundreds just along the perfect line atop large branches, equally well atop smaller branches, stacked onto twigs, and even as a perfect outline of the top (sometimes a side) of the tree formation. An exquisite gravitational outline evokes astonishment over the precision and beauty of physics, geometry, botany, dendrology, and climate.
Blowing, Drifting Snow
In Nebraska, the weathermen and automated national weather reports speak of “blowing and drifting snow.” To a Texan, those are old words phrased into a new concept. Snow blows? Snow drifts? The Texan in me had heard of snowdrifts, but not of drifting snow. A couple of winters in Nebraska teach that blowing snow is a collection of individual snowflakes not yet coalesced with each other enough to fix to the ground. Individual snowflakes too sub-freezing cold to coalesce? Rather, the natural wind during a mild to moderate snowfall will lift these fallen flakes and “blow” them afresh to a new location, often in a horizontal direction. That is what I think is blowing snow.
Drifting snow just might refer to blowing snow that joins other blowing snow to form drifts of snow nearly without pause to decide whether snow is blowing or to discern when a collection of snow is a snowdrift that wasn’t in that not-so-common location only shortly ago.
Safty-in-Case Winter Travel
What one learns during that first winter is to pack your car with survival essentials in case a blizzard develops. Empty tin can in which to melt snow with the candle and waterproof matches that are stored in the can, just in case. Blankets are needed with recommendations for the readily available aluminum blankets that pack with the candle in the large tin can. Those are small and light blankets that are recommended to reflect your own heat back to your body. A shovel will gather and remove snow to assist you in building a survival igloo or quinzhee or snow cave. 1 Eating snow will quickly drop one’s body temperature when one is stuck immobile in snow. One must heat the snow to form warm water to avoid dehydration and stave off freezing. Do not wander in a blizzard as the swirling and visual blockage will disorient. Be prepared and let others know where you are. Avoiding travel into snow storms is wise. Read and follow instruction on being safe in snow.2 The American Red Cross offers important information regarding avoiding and dealing with blizzards.3 Winter Storm Warnings and Blizzard Warnings are terms the weather and news reports may identify.4 These serious alarms demand attention to remain indoors and prepare for potential loss of power and water access.
Approached intelligently, the beauty of new fallen snow, the wonder of new warm clothing technology, and the adventure of snow shoeing, snow skiing, making snow angels, and building quinzhees for practice make snow a management and fun activity.
GOD’s Creation Declares
PSALM 19 declares the Glory of GOD that these snowflakes, unique every one, demonstrate for anyone who will look to See His Heavens Declared on earth!
PSALM 19 (WEB)5
1 The heavens declare the Glory of God.
The expanse shows His Handiwork.
2 Day after day they pour out Speech,
and night after night they display Knowledge.
3 There is no speech nor language
where their voice is not heard.
4 Their voice has gone out through all the earth,
their words to the end of the world.
In them He Has Set a tent for the sun,
5 which is as a bridegroom coming out of his room,
like a strong man rejoicing to run his course.
6 His going out is from the end of the heavens,
his circuit to its ends.
There is nothing hidden from its heat. [Emphasis added.]
- SnowShelter: Cave, Trench, Quinzee. Retrived 2026September01. ↩︎
- OSHA re WinterWeatherHazards. Retrieved 2026July31 ↩︎
- AmRedCross Re Winter Hazards Retrieved 2026July31. ↩︎
- NationalWeatherService-Winter ↩︎
- PSALM19-WEB-Biblehub ↩︎