I love what a snow blanket does to the sound. How everything is a bit muffled, and then there's all the ambient noise of people walking on snow, or the neighbors shoveling, and you can hear how all the cars are going slower. It feels so good how the snow gives way and compresses under my feet, too. How the flakes get shoved into each other and lock into a grid, loose powder transforming into a solid block. The joy that brings with every step! And the albedo is beautiful, how the crystaline expanse around me scatters the light in all directions to give that soft glow. The halos around the streetlights. The clean, fresh smell of the air. Oh, it's beautiful.

It has become a rarity around these parts, sadly. When i was a teen, i spent countless winter nights outside exploring, just drifting across town in awe, a half-smoked spliff hidden in a casette case, tip of my nose cold but everything else cozy under my parka, just marveling at the sight and sound as the shiny flakes drifted all around me in the icy air. I could only do that once this winter, and i had another day of throwing snowballs off my balcony while giggling like a child, and that was it. Nothing but cold rain from that point onwards.