The way fresh snow glistens in the morning sun will forever be one of my favorite sights. I was drawn to the picture on the cover because of the blanket of snow in the field and the tracks that have been left in it.
I don’t love the bitter cold, and I have never cared for the mud that seems to linger for days because of snow which lasted a few hours. You see, it’s not the snow itself at all (although this New Mexican will always be thankful for moisture in any form); it’s what the snow represents to me.
The snow is like a blank canvas that covers the earth – and the longer it stays, the more of a story it tells. The footprints show the path people have chosen to walk through or where animals have crossed, the tire tracks show the amount of traffic a place has received, and the drifts show the nooks and crannies built into the surface of the earth.
It often makes me think what it would be like if there was some way we could see our own tracks every day like we can the first few hours after a fresh snow.
I’ll be honest: I think if I could see my tracks from the past year, there would be more circles than anything. I imagine my tracks would be best compared to those left by a 15-year-old boy who has just learned to do a donut in the pasture for the first time. On the rare occasion I stopped circling, there would be a small thick line of bare ground where I have paced enough to wear away the snow completely.
The past year has been an eventful one for my family, and although we consider ourselves blessed through it all, it passed with more than its fair share of stressful moments. In March, we had our first child. In May, we sold our home in Idaho and moved 1,000 miles back to our home state of New Mexico. In June, I officially took over as managing editor of Progressive Forage. In July, my husband officially started his own welding and fabrication business. We spent the entirety of the year building a house and were able to move in the week before Christmas.
Needless to say, it’s been a busy year. We are so thankful for each opportunity and are happy with every new adventure we have embarked on in the last year, but after so many major life changes, it’s been a lot of change in a very short amount of time. I can’t wrap my mind around exactly what my tracks would look like for this year, but I am very much looking forward to the freshly fallen snow that is 2022.
I’m setting my goals and hoping for straighter tracks for the year. I am sure they will go to some unexpected places, and most likely be following a toddler around for a good majority of it, but I am ready for the adventure and the peace that comes with being handed a blank canvas. What will your path look like in 2022?
