snow as metaphor for love

it snowed on sunday here in dc: our first snow of the season. it began with tiny, dry flurries. i first noticed the snow as i looked out the window of a thai restaurant in rockville. the snow continued as i drove back into the city, falling more densely, but still dry, and making swirly, dusty patterns on the highway. it was beautiful to watch, but, after noticing that some cars were sliding around and seeing a truck spin off the road, i was terrified. my boyfriend* transformed into a driving coach and, after he calmed me down, we exited onto the surface roads so that i could drive as slowly as i wanted. the snow was still falling in small flakes but getting wetter and heavier and bigger. it was gathering in the grass and on the sidewalks. i finally felt safe driving, puttering embarrassingly slowly down connecticut avenue.

we got to dupont circle and parked. after grabbing hot chai from teaism, we just walked around for a while in the snow. by that time, the sky was dropping huge wet flakes all over us- it was getting in my hair and my face and my coat and i loved it. i stomped around, feeling like a kid. we popped quickly into kramer books and the phillips before stomping gleefully back to the car. it was an easy drive home, especially with "sorry miss jackson" playing on the radio. seemed like such a summer song until sunday.

by the time we got back to my apartment, the snow had become a blanket, thick and cozy. we took the metaphor literally and napped. and this is the interesting part. when we woke up, the snow had matured somehow. it was starting to get dark outside and the snow was still falling hard and with purpose. it became time to think about the realities of the snow. get out the salt and the ice scraper and the shovel. will we have to go to work and school in the morning? is it a good idea to drive to the store to get food for dinner? it was like, in the time that it took for us to take a nap, we'd become adults dealing with the snow, rather than children playing in it.

what switched? what happened to make something light and carefree into something still so beautiful but serious and real and consequential? it was the passage of time and the fact that the snow continued to fall. it was still snowing but everything was different.

*yes, boyfriend.