Like people, snow has a life cycle. In the beginning, the snow falls: a miracle of birth as the flakes flutter to the ground, and begin to accumulate. One bright morning, we are greeted by a sleek and beautiful blanket of fresh snow, as of yet unmarred by the hand of man. Alas, we humans have jobs to do, and errands to run, and so we forge paths in the snow; thus begins the decay. The snow is plowed and shoveled into piles to get it out of the way, and passing vehicles splatter it with dirt. Eventually, the blanket of snow melts, but the piles remain for days, maybe weeks after, like filthy icebergs floating on the land, a sad reminder of what came before, the twilight years of snow. Soon, even these will melt away, and their accumulated grit will be the bones they leave behind. Then someday, the snow will fall again, and the cycle of life and death will repeat.
Image: Amara Gelaude
The big meltdown
This article was published on January 24, 2018 and may be out of date. To maintain our historical record, The Cascade does not update or remove outdated articles.
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