See the first snowfall

See the first snowfall

Cool white butterflies dancing.

See the first snowfall

I still remember these lyrics from a song entitled "Winter Haiku," which I learned as a twelve-year-old boy singing in the Mansfield YMCA Youth Choir.  They still feel like some of the most elegant, most eloquent words that could be used to describe the simple joy of the season's first snowfall.

Amsterdam received its first snowfall of the year this weekend.  It hasn't been much, and definitely not enough to accumlate for any length of time.  But it's been beautiful and awe-inspiring nonetheless -- just a little dusting on my jacket, a little magic to the cold air.  Cool white butterflies dancing.

I was on my way to a meeting when the first flakes touched down, so I wasn't able to immediately participate in my favorite "first snowfall tradition."  But when I got home later that afternoon, I put on Andy Williams' Christmas album -- an old, time-honored tradition in the Asp family -- and sang along to the opening strains of "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas."

These traditions, these songs, these images, are definitely one of the unmistakable joys of November.