It’s Snowing

There’s a fire in the wood stove, dogs piled in front of it, their fur slightly damp from melting snow. My parents are on the sofa, my mother reading a magazine, my father on his ipad. I sit at my computer, thinking how much I love snow. There’s no sign of my brother yet, but he’s a teenager, we probably won’t see him for at least two more hours.

I love days when it snows. The world becomes suddenly so peaceful and quiet. The hours seem to stretch long, but not in a tedious, boring way, but rather in a way begging to be filled with small tasks that I’ve needed to do for a while, but just haven’t gotten around to. Today, I can put away my laundry, I can make that necklace I’ve had in my head for two months, I can read, I can write, I can do oh-so-many things without feeling the slightest pressure to go out and run errands. The only thing better than a snowy day, is a snowy Sunday.

I was worried it might start snowing yesterday. That would not have been as welcome as today’s snow. Yesterday, we celebrated our band’s first birthday with potluck and a concert for our most loyal supporters. It was a marvelous evening.

It’s been a year and a month since I first started playing bass. It’s been seven months since I first stared playing my upright bass. A year and a half ago, if someone had told me that one of the brightest aspects of my life would be playing bass as part of a bluegrass band, I wouldn’t have believed them. I don’t think I’d even have been able to imagine myself doing such a thing. I’ve never considered myself to be musical, not in an instrumental way. Certainly, I’ve sung in choruses all my life, but I was always terrified of singing solo. Every time I tried to audition for the musical in high school, even if I could sing the song perfectly to my mother, I’d always freak out and sing terribly for the audition. Last night, I sang lead on three songs and it was exhilarating. Slowly, I feel all my fears and anxieties surrounding music dropping away, melting like snow in the sun. No matter what happens next in my life, no matter where I go, I want to keep music in my life. It has become an essential part of my happiness.

Thank you for reading.