Let it snow!

It's a beautiful day! The sun is shining brightly on the foot, or more, of snow we have on the ground today; giving the illusion of a million sparking diamonds. It makes me think of Snowflake Bentley. He is the person who discovered that no two snowflakes are alike. I love his story...For his 15th birthday he received a microscope, and began examining the "tiny miracles of beauty," as he called them. He was fascinated by their beauty, variety, and complexity. He tried to draw the snowflakes, but they always melted before he could finish. At 17, he begged his parents for a camera and a better microscope. Then in January of 1885, after 2 years of trial and error, he obtained the first photomicrographs ever taken of an ice crystal. Over his lifetime, he captured the images of more than 5000 different snowflakes. The people of Jericho, Vermont, the town were Wilson Bentley lived, thought he was odd because of his preoccupation with snowflakes, but I find a great irony in that. What he discovered in each flake of snow can be found in the man himself, it can be found in everyone and everything...beauty, complexity, and uniqueness! The snow outside looks beautiful today, but even more so now that I'm looking at it in a different way. Thank you, Snowflake Bentley!

Quote of the day - When a snowflake melted, that design was forever lost. Just that much beauty was gone, without leaving any record behind. - Wilson "Snowflake" Bentley