first snow

Christmas Eve, 2004 brought a freak snowfall to the quaint little beachtown of Corpus Christi, Texas, the first in thirty years, much deeper than the previous inch or two, and most importantly, the first White Christmas ever. Most, however, didn't call it 'freak' so much as 'blessing'. Though the temperature dropped to a record low, it was impossible not to be instantly warmed by the sight of kids abandoning their televisions, laptops, and iPods and running onto the street to chuck miniscule fistfulls of snow at each other beneath the blanketed palm trees.

Even my dog couldn't seem to escape a certain sense of wonder.