A winter wonderland. (Photo provided — Diane Chase)

For a good portion of the coming season, we will be living in a snow globe. I am not sure if anyone else ever feels the responsibility each shovelful brings. Is it only me?

I prepare for the inclement weather, packing extra hats and mittens in the glovebox. I can be overwhelmed by the necessity to clear cars, paths, and driveways. I am sometimes challenged by road conditions, road salt, and roadkill.

Winter Solstice isn’t even here, but my brain is still preoccupied with removing snow rather than enjoying it.

Thankfully, I only need to look at my family’s cold-reddened cheeks to be reminded of the uninhibited joy that comes with snow.

My daughter anxiously awaited the first significant snowfall. We went to sleep surrounded by greenery and opened our eyes to a sugar-dusted fairyland. She woke up and stood outside the door, silently watching the snow. We joined her for a while, hugging each other to stay warm, peacefully in the now.

We tipped our heads up to the sky and let the snow whisper around us. We silently let the flakes tickle our faces and melt away into the quiet morning.

I walked the dog and stood outside my house for a bit, letting the flakes gently sashay around my head. It was magical. It wiped out the responsibility of having to move it, drive in it, and dress for it. It blanketed out the noise from the street and my head.

We still had to shovel the snow. We cleared cars, paths, and driveways. The constant need to move snow remains. I am not that much of a romantic.

I am grateful for those little reminders that pull me back to the magic of snow. I love knowing my children aren’t too old to plot the perfect hideout or stockpile snowballs. I may have to shovel it, drive in it, and dress for it, but I still get to build forts with it, ski on it, and slide on it.

My children can also shake me out of my nostalgia by hitting me in the face with snow. (Don’t fret. I believe revenge is best served cold, possibly snowball in the bed — cold.)

I hope you remain optimistic and childlike while remembering the magic of snow. Enjoy!