Brilliant sunny morning a thick white blanket of snow everywhere and even icebergs across the Strait? No, just the vertical flanks of Whidbey Island colored white and shimmering against the icy blue water.

Mt. Baker peeks through swaying firs, its fresh snow dazzles me like the flash of a movie star’s smile.

What is it about freshly fallen snow that is so alluring? Few things in nature are so purely white, so symbolic of beginnings, of things untainted. To a writer it is the blank page beckoning for insights. To a painter, the bare canvas awaiting inspiration. But most of all, it is the real alchemy of snow that delights. To watch moisture-laden clouds release these ice crystals, which then drift down to earth in such dizzying fashion, is to recall the snow days of childhood and my first sled, all shiny red metal and varnished wood and the steep streets of Portland that I dared go down.

Six inches of snow settle onto the ground and stay for a few days, which reveals a surprise. As the days go by, barely an inch of ground is untouched by hoof, paw and claw prints—my yard becomes a giant manuscript of animal gibberish—cussings and crossings and foragings beneath the snow. I had no idea there was so much activity or that deer use the concrete stairs in the narrow yard along the north side of the house.

These crisp winter days revealed another surprise. They were always there. But I didn’t know it.

Huge—8, 10, 12,000 feet tall. Then today dawned cold and so clear that the San Juan Islands appear as if they’ve been cut from dark blue paper with ultra-sharp scissors. And beyond them, 200 miles into Canada, I see more snow-capped mountains. It’s like learning I have unseen guardian spirits who have always been there. What other presences are there in my life that I don’t know about?

CONTEMPLATIONS

• Do you need a blank slate, a fresh snowfall in your life right now?
• What goes on in your world when you’re not looking?
• What other presences might there be in your life that you don’t know about?
• Do you know where to look for them?

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