We had a snow day in DC for the first time in years. Being from Buffalo, I didn't know how much I missed the magic. This cold, icy, definition-of-wintry day, was one of those days that you could have written in white ink on a white page, it felt that special. The whole neighborhood was alive. Children were outside playing a massive game of hunt and snowballs, using the surrounding blocks without a care in the world. Everything felt safe and protected under those effortlessly falling snowflakes, as if nothing could spoil the day, nothing could ruin the magic. We talked with neighbors and spent the whole day outside. Our cheeks flushed with the snowy air as sparkles of flakes danced around us, hugging us as they fell from the sky. No one worked that day. Ever since the global pandemic four years ago, it has been "business as usual" in the following years, societal standards suffocating our creativity and hope. No one has had any room or time to *breathe*. I can tell you...we all breathed well this week, covered in snow and chilled to the bone but happy. The terribleness that engulfs us these days was paused for a brief, better day. There was light in our small, but very important, corner of the world. Two days later, I'm trying to hold onto the magic but it slowly slips from my hands like melting snow in the warmth, trickling through my fingers as I desperately cup them to catch it, keep it safe, keep it alive. I look around me and there are less people outside. The snow has browned and the pavement is visible again. There is a heavy feeling in my chest and my brow is furrowed with the weight of adulthood and responsibilities. The sky is gray and the clock ticks forever, brutally onward. Before we can even catch our breath again, wondering if the magic we experienced the other day was real or imagined, dreaming how we can go back there. In even more days, adults will forget the magical snow day and everyone will have the "Sunday scaries" once more. We march on, but we will always have that snow day to dream about when we remember and believe in the magic.
-LM 1-8-25
