Rosanne Bostonian

December 14, 2022

The Snow Grinch

Central Park in the snow

I’ve never been a big fan of snow. I don’t ski nor snowboard (God forbid), and the shoveling and travel hazards have been exhausting and scary. On the surface, snow is fraught with trials and tribulations. Walking my dog in the snow has resulted in several butt surfing episodes that are ever more daunting in my 60s. He looks at me after a slip and fall as if to say, “And you think it’s smart to walk on two legs?!” But even I, The Snow Grinch, have come to appreciate a few things about the white stuff.

When the light hits new snow, there are myriads of tiny reflections coming from each of the trillions of flakes. If you look really closely you can see the unique hexagonal forms comprising the mass of white. Sort of like we humans who resemble a crowd at first glance, then each having a complex tangle of DNA and experiences that make us incredibly unique while being “one.”

I was wondering why a “White Christmas” is particularly appealing. Maybe it’s an excuse to stay put, not run around from mall to party, back to mall? At this time of year, the inner longing for time with ourselves is drowned out by the need to look engaged and celebratory. We reject our own company and then try to make up for that rejection by being invited and accepted by others. Yet, because the true need is for an inner peace we can be left exhausted and depressed. We make the classic error of searching “out there” for what is only available “in here.”

Rosanne, The Snow Grinch then dug a little deeper…

I came up with a vision of the silent blanket of white frosting on every surface quieting the outer noise. Snow creates the stillness and the repose of every living thing. I saw in my mind’s eye the emphatic white articulation of branches and bushes, rooftops and fences. Stillness and quiet.

The holidays at this time of year all seem to celebrate light in the darkness, charity and universal love, self-accountability and purification. These objectives seem to invite us in as well as “out.”

We humans tend to be noise makers. We create explosions, blow horns and holler at midnight of a New Year dawning, play loud music and seem to create lots of movement. We build hard surfaces that amplify noise and interfere with the calming of sound and energy. We talk too much and say too little. We tend to dread stillness because it exposes what is unfinished within us. Much of what is communicated through love comes in quiet moments.

I still don’t particularly look forward to Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride on snowy roads, but I will wish you a “White Christmas” with or without snow. If there is no snow, no literal outer blanket of stillness to embrace you, may you find it within yourself. May the “still, quiet voice” whisper that all is well and may we all “sleep [and live] in heavenly peace.”

Much love, Rosanne (aka, “The Snow Grinch”)

Related Posts

human hand holding chimp hand

Virtual, Schmirtual

By Rosanne Bostonian | May 19, 2022

Life of one form or another has been present on Earth for 7+ million years. Hard to wrap our heads around that much time!  Hominins, monkey-like creatures, have existed for in the neighborhood of 220,000 years. We’ve all seen the pictures of stages of as a variety of ancestors figured out that freeing their hands…

Woman behind glass with Covid sign

Our Poor America

By Rosanne Bostonian | December 23, 2021

Ravaged by covid, misled by politicians tripping over their egos, our Great Experiment is being tested as never before.  As we each try to manage the lives we can directly influence, the din of uncertainty reverberates in the background. The talking heads on TV and radio are hard to tolerate. The venom, the giddiness over the…

Hacked!

By Rosanne Bostonian | November 24, 2021

There is a new scam called check washing. Apparently, the perp grabs an envelope by breaking into a mailbox. There could also be dishonest postal workers grabbing the clearly marked billing envelopes. Either way the ability to photograph a check and change it is the scam. The clever dude deletes the payee and the amount…

lines for voting

Our Elections

By Rosanne Bostonian | November 9, 2021

I voted on November 2nd. I found myself voting against rather than voting for. The choices seemed uninspiring in their vindictive and classless attacks on each other. Where is the dignity? If the available candidates are reflections of our society, we are in serious trouble. Maybe people have always been small minded, but they knew…

flooded street with submerged cars

Pestilence, Plague and Flood

By Rosanne Bostonian | September 6, 2021

When I heard on the news that there was going to be and influx of grasshoppers, I didn’t think much of it. Apparently, they didn’t come north into New Jersey, so that prediction dropped below the radar. Not so lucky with Covid-19. That plague didn’t drop below anyone’s radar and we are all still inhaling…

mother and son

Raising the Mother

By Rosanne Bostonian | May 16, 2021

This blog is being written on Mother’s Day, but it won’t be posted until after, but that’s ok.  The point is to reflect, and this reflection may be more appropriate after the heartfelt cards, the Edible Arrangements and the flowers are enjoyed on the actual day. As someone who has had a career in psychology, the…

herd of cows

Variants!

By Rosanne Bostonian | April 20, 2021

Just when we thought that our masks were coming off and vaccines were killing the dreaded Covid19, here come the variants!  Sneaky little buggers they are, altering their approach to our waiting cell membranes ever so slightly. As subtle as the changes are, they can be enough to fake out our immune systems and cause…

Trees in a swamp

Let’s Use What We Can See

By Rosanne Bostonian | March 10, 2021

If there was a set of circumstances that would expose anything about us that needed healing, here it is. We have a combination of dark, cold winter, insurrection and COVID. There are only two choices: we can feel like victims, out of control, or we can “elevate” and see all of this as an opportunity.…

Compromise between opposite sides

Turning the Page

By Rosanne Bostonian | February 2, 2021

And so, we turn the page and it becomes the Biden/Harris Era. Will this chapter be a statement of conscious understanding, or will it again be a plateau that serves comfort and status quo? There are many categories in which the status quo is becoming very uncomfortable. The pandemic, global warming, social unrest erupting into…

Girl hugging a sunset. Serenity, peace, mindfulness

Evolution…

By Rosanne Bostonian | January 16, 2021

As Life evolves, it is easy to think that human have evolved to our ultimate state. Not only is evolution continuing, it is happening at an accelerated pace. In fact, it feels dizzying at times. As humans “being,” (not a typo), the requirement for keeping balance is understanding that our humanity continues to evolve. Deepak…