Under the microscope, I found that snowflakes were miracles of beauty; and it seemed a shame that this beauty should not be seen and appreciated by others. Every crystal was a masterpiece of design and no one design was ever repeated., When a snowflake melted, that design was forever lost. Just that much beauty was gone, without leaving any record behind. -- William Bentley
It no doubt is a bit difficult, when one has spent several days digging out of a major snowstorm, to fully appreciate the fascination that snow always has held for a lot of people, a fascination that is reflected in a not inconsiderable amount of literature:
While much of this literature has been directed at adults...
...perhaps even more has been directed at children, who, after all, have not yet had their sense of wonder diminished by the responsibilities and cares of adulthood:
Anyone building a private library around this topic will have an embarrassment of riches from which to choose, everything from books about the ability of snow to save us from ourselves (the impact of weather on war is a collectible topic unto itself)...
...to the vast literature in which snow plays a very substantial, if sometimes secondary, role (think, for example, of arctic exploration, the topic of a future series of posts):
So the next time a major snowstorm drives you into your private library for several days on end, maybe it's trying to tell you something....
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