Snow is beautiful ...
Hmmm ...
I have been cursing snow for ever now - right from the time i slipped and fell down a snow cliff in manali, (almost) breaking my nose; to being stuck inside my hotel room for 2 consecutive weeks like a rat in a cage.
But today i finally braved the 15F (-10C) temperature and marched out to explore the town on foot. It had snowed all night yesterday and today morning, but the sun had been up for a couple of hours, giving me hope enough to go and "chill out".
So at 2pm on a freezy winter day i leave house for my first visit around Overland Park. I had decided to go to this lake near my place, which from a distance kind of looked like this perfect spot - the old country side, a large lake, with snow all around, and a frosted bridge across it. The scene was breath-taking. Dry leaves, green winter grass, ice cold water, and snow all around.
No point capturing those moments on a camera. Its only something that you can see yourself and appreciate. Probably try and capture them on paper - but i am not too great at doing that either.
Well, feeling hungry, i moved on to a random route just walking where the road led me - kind of realized that i had taked the path to the town plaza - the surroundings were just so pure - snow all around, cars skidding down the highway, ice on the sidewalk, huge countryside manors with kids sleighing down the snow slopes, standing so far apart you could fit 10 elephants sidelong, the sub zero wind blasting me in the face, ears and fingertips numb, no other pedestrian dumb enough to be out but me, and small lakes every 5 streets frozen with sleet.
Aah, the beauty of it all ...
My glasses had frozen so hard up that i had to look at the menu without them. No wonder to my embarrasment, i ended up giving a 20$ note instead of a 50$, and then asking for 30$ more on the change. A hot cappuccino on the way back alongwith my lunch was just the perfect way to beat the cold. Though it was a different matter that my fingers were now really about to breakoff in this chill carrying the lunch packet in one hand and the cofee in the other. My watch stopped at 3:05pm. It just couldnt take the chill i guess. It however returned to normal functionality when i came back to my warm abode after 1.5 hours of a gruelling hike. But the most amazing part was the fact that my tears froze. They literaly froze to ice and stuck on my face. It was a wow moment.
To round off the perfect day, even though i skid a couple of times, i did not fall. Apprehensive of the new roads, i never lost my way. And most importantly, though i hated the "icky-yellow-brown" snow before, i believe i will look upon in it in a different light from now on. Wish i could have stayed longer till christmas and enjoyed it in the snow ...
