Thought for the Week

‘Snow was falling, so much like stars,

‘Filling the dark trees that one could easily imagine,

‘Its reason for being was nothing more than prettiness.’

I love this quote from Mary Oliver as it paints a wonderful winter wonderland scene.

Unusually, we have had quite a lot of snow lately in Argyll and it has been welcome and unwelcome.

Its beauty makes it a very welcome feature, as it caresses hilltops and paints the islands white. Islay and Jura are magnificent in their milky white coats which glow pink in the morning sun.

I always feel sorry for our children here who have so little snow fun, for as soon as it has settled, it is blown away again in the wind.

It is fun, if we don’t have to travel, but when we have to set out with our vulnerable wheels on the roads, the snow is not so welcome.

We got caught in a blizzard last week while on the beach at A’Chleit with our collies.

They looked as if someone had sprinkled the salt cellar over them as they tried to catch each floating fragile flake.

I thought of what wonderful lessons nature can teach us and remembered another quote, by Vesta M Kelly: ‘Snowflakes are one of nature’s most fragile things, but just look what they can do when they stick together.’

One snowflake weighs nothing, yet together they can cause an avalanche. Could we learn from this?

One act of kindness on its own might not change the world, but imagine what we could do together. Maybe we could cause an avalanche of love to cover all the hatred and fear with just one snowflake of hope at a time.