Snowzilla - the beauty and cruelty

The first time in my life I saw snow falling was on a Friday, a cold December morning of 2010, when I used to live in College Park, Maryland. It was an unforgettable serene experience. It was beautiful, much like a scene ripped out from a black and white movie depicting a picture of perfect wonderland in winter. Looking out the window, I marvelled at the snowflakes falling gently to the ground. The entire panorama was bathed in a kind of ghostly glow of whiteness as the soft sunshine alighted upon a huge carpet of fresh snows. That tranquil morning was breathtaking.
Last Saturday, I saw snowflakes drifting around a little abnormally. And this time my experience has been different. It was a snowstorm, a blizzard. Snowflakes didn't fall from the sky as silently and as majestically as I found in College Park back in 2010. Loose snowflakes coming from nowhere were blown by the strong wind in changing directions. It was like patchy drizzles wavering in winds at high speed that we experience in Bangladesh before a storm. The difference is they are minute crystals of snowflakes in America instead of those fine droplets of rain in Bangladesh.
A monstrous snowstorm named 'Snowzilla' hit the East Coast of USA on January 23, affecting more than 80 million people. Hundreds of thousands have been left without power because of ice accumulation and strong winds. High winds and blizzard conditions generated by the massive storm brought down power lines in many places.
The storm shut down almost the entire East Coast, dumping 24 to 28 inches of snow in New York, New Jersey, Long Island, Maryland, and other adjoining states. At least 18 people have been reported dead. Public transportation in most of the states was halted. About 5,100 flights were cancelled on Saturday and 2,800 more on Sunday. This storm has been ranked as the snowiest on record for Maryland.
Snow ended by Saturday night. At dawn on Sunday, a few errant flurries, nothing more than a random dusting, were hovering over the snowy surroundings. The sun was blazing, yet the temperature was below freezing. It was a good morning to enjoy the leftovers of Snowzilla. Neighbours were scampering off to dig out snows and ice around their cars and using shovels and brooms to brush off fluffy snows from the surfaces of their cars that were buried under heaps of snow on the previous night. Mounts of snows are expected to melt away with sunny skies on Sunday and Monday.
On Sunday morning as I ventured outside, I was amazed to see the neighbourhood in Cockeysville, where I live, buried in almost 30 inches of snow. Nature painted the whole area with a broad brush spreading white over every nook and cranny. Everything seemed so equal in the snow. Streets, sidewalks, cars, and lawns were completely blanketed.
Everything was white, white, and white, as far as I could gaze. Everything looked so clean and fresh, forming a sombre and peaceful landscape. The intense silence that brooded over the snow-bound land and the deep blue sky that greeted me in the morning were feasts to my eyes.  The crunch of the snows beneath my feet as I walked sounded like music to my ears.
 
There will be more snowfalls in the coming months and the severity of winter will continue punishing us, especially those of us from Bangladesh who are struggling to adept with the extremities of American seasons. Still, there are beauties one can find in the fringes of weather.
For me, it's okay no matter how chilly it is outside home. Winter in America rather gives me an opportunity to stay inside and look inside, as I am not called outdoors to work. It is a beautiful season of intimacy and reflection if you snuggle yourself up in a cushy chair, seep a cup of hot cocoa, and enjoy reading or listening to music and occasionally peer out the window to savour those beauties hidden behind the so-called harshness of winter.
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