It was snowing yesterday morning. Really, there isn't anything special about that. In the winter, in New England, it snows. It was the first day of winter break so I lazily took a few iPhone pictures. I remembered there are filters on the square pictures and I applied the B&W filter on the image. The result was heartbreaking. The variation between the color image and the B&W one were infinitesimal. I am not a snow fan. I am not a Black and White person in real life. I need and shades of color, and of course shades of grey.

Winter is something I could easily live without. People feel bad for me. When we moved here, everybody was bragging about the beautiful snow. I usually replied with a frown. Until a few month ago, I felt all alone in my abhorrence of winter. Then I met two persons. One is a winter fanatic. She told me I should EMBRACE winter. "Embrace" happens to be my favorite word in English. So, her words caught my mind. I remember them almost every day although I am not sure exactly how and when and if I will ever embrace winter. The other person loathes winter as much as I do. She sees it as a chore, just like me. It always feel good to meet someone who feels exactly like you do.

The dirt of the snow, the accidents on the road, the cold, the snow everywhere, in the mittens, in the neck, on the hair, and the absence of color pay a toll on me.

But when my kids dress up to play in the snow, I remember that I bought them hand-me-downs super colorful snow pants.

When I hear their giggles in the snow, I feel a little warmer.

When finally the sun comes one hour before the sunset and brightens everything, I start to feel (a little bit) lucky to live in a winter wonderland.

This is the best way I found so far to embrace the winter. With a camera instead of skis. Later, I will start iceskating on the pond, skiing, snow shoeing, snow tubing, you name it. There is only so much I can adjust at in a certain time and these kinds of adjustments happen quite slowly . So, I enjoy the few minutes of the sun reflections, I pray that my kids don't get hurt in their backyard sledding adventures and I end up smiling with them at the bottom of the big hill.