The Snow Dance

It snowed and made us forget, for a time, how much our lives have been changed by the earthquakes.  Instead we watched our world change to a winter wonderland and our city became pretty once again.  The curtains stayed open as we watched the "fluffies", as my daughter called the snowflakes, drift to the ground.  Later that night when the fluffies appeared to have stopped this same daughter performed a snow dance and the weather god heard her.  Fluffies continued to fall throughout the night and into the next day.  The city came to a standstill and people were encouraged to stay home for the day.

The fluffies created a deep blanket of snow which covered the broken roads, broken homes and buildings and broken parks turning the scenery into a beautiful landscape.  Snowmen, huts, ramps and other snow creations quickly became part of this new landscape.  Families played in the snow, laughing and forgetting the cold.  The streets were quiet as there was no traffic, so roads became playgrounds for those adventurous enough to go outside.  Some stayed inside appreciating the serenity and beauty of the snowflakes as they fell to the ground.

I went sliding down our driveway on a boogie board and heard the child within me giggling at the fun of it.  I went for a walk and it became an adventure when the snow fell heavily and the wind roared through the trees.  Suddenly we were having to seek shelter and discussed digging a snow cave for the night.  In the park it was easy to forget the ugliness the earthquakes had left behind as the pristine whiteness of the snow swallowed up the scars.  Turning back to go home, though, there were the reminders that all is still not well in our world - the lonely portaloo, the silent digger at the side of the road and the cones outlining the roadworks under the snow.

But for a brief moment of time we could escape from the reality of our world, have some fun and laugh together.  Thank you, my daughter, for your snow dance.