First Snow of the Year

It snowed today. Beautiful. Serene. Quiet and white and delicate. I watched from a warm interior, and I worked a little, cooked a little, walked in it at sunset to buy bread from the local store for tonight's dinner of vegetable soup. I was quite happy, quite contented.

I told a friend what I was up to, and he, living as he does in Morocco, remarked that he missed the rain and the snow. I considered this and reflected that I take for granted the regularity of rain and snow in my part of the world. I had the luxury of enjoying the beauty of it without having to think about what it means to live in a place of drought. 

An article I recently co-authored was published last week. It is about renewable energy in Morocco and projects that help mitigate the effects of climate change: soil erosion, carbon emissions, water resource management. It is one thing to write about it, to apply for grants for projects to help those who are not as lucky as I am, but quite another to live without reliable water, regular precipitation.

I will still enjoy the scenery outside my office window from the comfort of my desk in my warm home, but I will try to take time for gratitude that I can just enjoy the snow instead of having to pray for it.

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