Snowball! What snowball!
Ooh look over there!
Heh heh! I (snow) balled you!
Hey you!
This snow ball has your name on it. See? Look real close— ha! GOTCHA!


The grey clouds above me litter the landscape with white chaff, falling in family clumps to form a white duvet over the sleepy landscape. While the exquisite beauty of snow is most obvious in the small crystals that fit the popular concept of a snowflake, giant flakes have their own charm as they spiral and slowly flutter downward.

By morning, the freezing rain had deposited several centimeters of clear ice on all exposed surfaces. Then its aftermath, the skies. When dawn broke, the first rays of the sun struck the tops of the leaf-less maple along the ridge to the west, shining back in a dazzling light. As the sun rose further, its brilliance reflected and refracted off ever more of the crystal garden which covered the countryside. Barbed wire fences sparkled like diamond necklaces. Weeds rising from the snow resembled the stems of crystal goblets. Rough wood shone while gentle breezes played branches like wind chimes; stronger gusts breaking long ice chains, sending them tinkling and crashing as they hit the ground.

Periods of freezing rain like this one may fall in any winter storm crossing North America. Ice storms transform roads into huge skating rinks and leave downed power lines and broken trees in their wake. However, like a heavy snow storm, the damage and inconvenience are often tempered by dazzling beauty.

The beauty of snow is appreciated by some and hated by a few others. We must remember that snow is only around for a short while till spring comes and the temperatures rise above thirty two degrees Fahrenheit. When that day in the spring comes then all of that wet beautiful cold fun stuff becomes just plain old water again.

Last friday we received our first big snow of the season. It started out with sleet and ice and ended with several inches of snow.

I breathe in the cool autumnal air of our December, and think about the Rubaiyat, where Omar Khayyam describes the fleeting snows of Persia:

The Worldly Hope men set their Hearts upon
Turns Ashes -- or it prospers; and anon
Like Snow upon the Desert's dusty Face
Lighting a little Hour or two -- is gone.

Oh! There comes our neighbour.

I love the excitement of their son’s eyes when he watches the snow fall. I smile each time he sticks his tongue out in hopes of catching a mouth full of snowflakes. I laugh each time I see him trudge around in his snowsuit while trying to lift his heavy booted feet through snow that’s up to his thighs. He tells his mom that she is the best in this world because she has made their snowman the best in the neighborhood as he throws a snowball at her and then goes wild with laughter because he “really got her this time balled with snow”. And this made snow more beautiful.

[continues]

Well….
Not knowing, whether I would be blessed; I feel lucky to have born as one among the species of mammal; who can feel it to the core.

So…
Love is like the sun coming out of the clouds
and warming your soul.
To the world you may be one person,
but to one person you may be the world.
It is a moment that lasts for ever.
It is a decision not an emotion or feeling,that if made from the heart will outlast anything...
Love is more than a feeling;it's a state of mind.
Love wasn't putin the heart to stay,
for love isn't love'til you give it away.

If I am wrong and still don’t know what love is, I wish he – man of my dreams would spend his life with me, telling me what is right and be by my side and teach me to love.

A quote for my marriage
Here it goes…

A new day, a new life
I put on my silk saree
He wears his silk dhoti
This is my day!

I walk down the aisle
can’t wait to get to him
I spill out my heart
now conscious of our surroundings:
A society too often blind of any other forms of love--
I desperately stole one good look.
My heart continued to beam with this
new energy... this new light...
That failed not to glow.

Then we promised
to be together through everything,
each to care for the other when old and grey
A lovers' pact
the most likely to last.

A new name,
a new life
I am his,
He is mine
we share one future.

A new life waking up in his arms
we are one
our love is everlasting!
I can't wait to see
what the next day will bring.

And I thought how,
at this very moment,
My life as I knew it could perish
And crumble beneath my feet...
And I will have died
Fulfilled and complete.

And this 'Love' adds colour to a void Life!

[continues]

"Srikanth, I just wanted to say that I was very disappointed the other day after you called...no, disappointed is not the word. Agony is probably closer to what I felt. I like you a lot (darn! I just cannot say the word love) and was hoping you would propose. I cried for a week, as a matter-of-fact. But, am over it now. I can..."

"Vandana, I love you."

Literally, a hundred butterflies flying in my stomach and all around me. I must be dreaming. Again! No, I smell his musk. He is really hugging me!"

I just wish you wouldn't jump to conclusions! Gosh, I can't even play a joke on you without you turning my life upside down!"Although I would have loved to stay in his arms for a much longer time, I moved away and demanded (hoping my loud inquisition would make him not notice my tears of joy!).

And, the girl married Mr.America -NRI.

[Over to me]

Wow! Exotic!
I realize something different from this.
How blessed and beautiful it feels to be loved?

Well, this isn’t love exactly but it turned out suddenly for each other.
This is life, where your spouse can take any other role for you as mother, father, brother/sister and more of a friend in this world. A companionate love rather than a passionate one. That’s how I value love.

I understood that the first rule is to never take your love relationship for granted. Couples often spend a lot of attention on each other when first dating or before marriage, but then tend to focus on other things (work, children, outside interests) after marriage.

It is very important to love your actual partner, not the idealization of your partner. It is often easier to fall in love with an ideal person than with a real person. The ideal person is perfect in every way, whereas a real person has flaws and shortcomings. When we love a fantasy of the ideal person, we ultimately become disappointed and frustrated. But when we love someone for who he or she is, the relationship is based on reality. Intimacy, passion, and commitment play a big role for a successful love relationship.

[To be Continued]

[continues]

A woman.....

[A scene where a pitiable young lady was dumped by an NRI – A beautiful blog by RS]
It goes like…. the girl was rejected by the guy after the formal proposal of both the parents for an arranged marriage and she getting recovered day by day thinking about the bits and pieces of conversations that they shared over the past.

Then when she happens to meet him one day, her thoughts were…
[The sweet piece of cake follows] (Over to Vandhana…..)

I must say I recovered pretty well after this incident. He tried calling a few times after that day but mom always gave him the right excuse before he could say much and I was grateful to my mom for that. I really did not fancy playing the part of the pitiable girl whom the cute guy dumped! I found myself thinking often if this was my doing after all. Maybe I had found the perfect guy and let him go because I was too conceited? Maybe I will see a hundred other guys but never find my charming Mr.America again...well, anyway easy come, easy go. Only in my case, it was not an easy go. I did not realize the depth of my feelings for him until he said goodbye.

So, you will not be surprised why I almost ran into him, deep in thought, at Spencers and still did not recognize him.

"Vandana."

And that's all he said.

I froze.

Familiar feelings, a giddy rush of blood to my cheeks, a sudden nervousness. I felt my heart beat so fast, I almost feared for my health, in one dim cavern of my mind. Surprisingly, I managed to think pretty logically in those few moments. I realized if I would ever feel anything like love, it would be like this. I also noticed something strange - that he looked back at me with almost the same intensity of feeling with which I was looking at him now - was it pity? sadness?

Anyway, I had made up my mind. Since neither of us had said almost nothing, I decided for once to speak my mind and not listen to my ego.

[To be Continued]