Technically today's is not the first snow here in central Maine. Some saw snow in the air on Halloween, and once or twice since then. It was, however, my own first walk of the season through a snowy landscape. It doesn't get less beautiful to me, that thing that a coating of snow does to the world. It is as though an artist went through the woods and fields, highlighting details large and small to exquisite effect.
I may have caught the best of the day. By the time I came inside the quiet snow was beginning to thin. It was sounding more like sizzling bacon as it clicked onto the dry leaves - the beginning of sleet. The weather forecasters called for a "wintry mix" all day, one of my favorite euphemisms. It makes something sloppy and depressing sound like a potpourri or a whimsical coffee flavor.
I hope that the wintry mix does not put any die-hard black Friday shoppers into and dire difficulties, but it wouldn't be so bad if it kept a few people at home. Although Black Friday has become an annual holiday event that many anticipate with excitement, I feel more like the Philadelphia police department when they first coined the phrase "black Friday" 44 years ago (according to Wikipedia). The disastrous traffic jams of both cars and people beginning the holiday shopping season on the day after Thanksgiving was a big headache for police. It seems to me that it has grown to a point of insanity.
Still, I suppose most people are out there for beneficent reasons - gift giving. I just hope they'll be able to exercise their generosity without running anyone down in the process. Somewhere along the line many seem to have lost the thread of the loving and giving aspect of their quest.
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