~A Snowy Pondering By Emily~
As I was walking to work today, I had my headphones in, but instead of my current audiobook or random shuffle of music, I had one particular song on loop: “The Night Window”, composed by Thomas Newman for the 2019 film 1917. This track is definitely my favorite piece of the score, which received a Best Original Score nomination for the 92nd Academy Awards.
While the original scene for the music is set in a very different tone than today’s journey, the music still held the power of transformation and transportation. It enhanced the environment, which already had a cinematic quality to it. Then, at each swell of music, I was invited to pause, look up, and appreciate the moment. To take the time to watch as each individual snowflake swirled, creating a wonderland atmosphere.
With or without music, I enjoy my walks to and from work. But today was simply gorgeous. I have enjoyed watching as the seasons have changed and how the neighborhood and trees change with them. From late summer, to fall, to now, in the early days of winter.
The otherwise bare branches are now weighted with thick snow atop them, light snowflakes gently swirling down as if I was in a snow globe. The sidewalks, some shoveled, somewhere beneath the snowy tracks of feet and paws. The crisp wind blowing the snow in swirling directions, shaking the heaviest of branches free of their snowy weight.
The snowflakes are heavier now and are falling down with more heft and speed. And stunning all the same. The wind picking up, even more in rhythm with the song’s crescendos. The footpaths once more lost beneath the fresh snow.
All of this is to say that if you find yourself walking in a snowy landscape this winter, take a moment and enjoy your surroundings: the individual flakes as they fall, how the snow is collecting on each tree branch, the snow under your feet (or wheels), the pawprints accompanying your tracks… all of it.
This piece was written by Emily Kallas.
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