The beauty of early morning snow evokes a feeling of serenity and tranquility. A blanket of snow mutes the relentless din that surrounds us.
This morning, I went for my daily run without the noise from podcasts or music. Instead, it was my thoughts, the quiet, and the beauty of snow-covered trees and lawns.
We caught that same snowfall last night. I have about a mile-long walk from the car to the office every day, and on mornings like this especially, I consider that time to be a perk of the job.
I was likewise struck this morning by the incredible beauty of the snowy trees, and the still silence in my car, as I barely avoided being the middle of a pileup.
I like the silence of a snowy landscape in our woods and fields, too!
But in areas like in the picture above, it is unfortunately often broken by the loud scratching noise of a shovel, or the noise of a Rotary plough, on the street or pedestrian walkway.
In 2014 my wife and I spent Christmas week in Yellowstone National Park, including several days in the Old Faithful area. There was quite a bit of snow (they had to shovel the roof of our cabin!). One morning we got up to go hiking and while eating breakfast it warmed up to -20℉. When we set out on the trails we saw but two other hardy souls, both on cross country skis.
But for the bison we had the place to ourselves. No sound but our steps crunching the snow. And the occasional geyser spouting. Truly magical.
We arrived back at the main lodge at around noon, hungry after several hours of marveling at the frozen landscape. Basking in that “golden” silence. By that time the temp had climbed to 0℉, and the trails had started to get crowded. And we had a snow buggy to catch, as this was our last day, and we needed to begin our journey home.
Since I must run on roads and sidewalks where I live, it is critical that I be able to hear oncoming cars, etc. That said, I would never want to run listening to something other than nature and life.
One of the coolest things my wife and I did when we lived in Montana was visiting Yellowstone in the winter time. We did the guided snowmobile tours with a park ranger. AMAZING experience without any crowds. Being around Old Faithful with no people was pretty cool.
We have also visited the park in the summer when we lived in Wyoming, but winter in Yellowstone is somethings special.
I never have any audio on while exercising, and I go hiking daily for up to 15km.
I think it’s good mentally to have a break from entertainment on a regular basis and spend time thinking. It’s when I come up with most of my best ideas and solutions to problems.
I have typically used my running time to listen to podcasts but I may change my “tune” (pun intended) and run in silence: well, except for my heavy breathing!
That is beautiful, and what I miss most about running. Sadly my body gave out on me after pushing too hard for too long. First one knee, then the other, now my achilles. I’ve started swimming, which is great exercise, but it’s not the same.
You are absolutely right though. We could all use with more times of quiet contemplation.
Thanks for sharing, @Bmosbacker. I totally appreciate the serenity and tranquility that snow can provide! I’ve really been struggling this year here in New York as we haven’t had measurable snowfall in more than 300 days. If it stays like this until this coming Monday, we’re going to break some kind of all time record for the city.
I grew up in a small town and I remember listening to snow fall outside in the woods. Literally hearing it fall! That’s how quiet it was. I’m never around that kind of quiet anymore (live in metro NYC area). One day again I hope to though, while I still have my hearing!