Sparkles

Sometimes the snow we get here is wet and heavy, good for making into snowballs, snowmen, and snow forts with tunnels that lead into cave-like rooms. Sometimes we get snow as fine as talcum power: when a strong wind comes through, the snow rises and dances through the trees the way dust will swirl after a fast-moving truck on an old dirt road. On a windless day, fluffy snow will pile up on the branches of trees, on steps and stumps and lawn chairs left outside by accident. Sometimes snow mixes with rain and freezes onto tree branches until the river birches in my yard shimmer with ice.