The winter in 2013/2014 in North America has been a cold one with lots of snow and many in light of the fact that the Groundhog on his day rendered his verdict there'd be another 6 weeks of winter...well a great many are too exasperated or afraid to even consider we could have quite a few snow storms yet. Perhaps it's time to adapt a 'if you can't beat it you may as well enjoy it' mentality. Here's a cheerful thought about snow...breaking it down individual flakes have been said by one Wilson Alwyn "Snowflake" Bentley as 'tiny miracles of beauty' and ice crystals as "Ice Flowers". Next time you go out to clear your driveway you can announce you're going to shovel the flowers, and see if that causes eye brows to raise amongst other famly members.
Wilson Bentley was born in 1865, and upon turning 15, took a microscope his mother gave him and zoomed in upon the individuals components of snow...in other words, FLAKES. The problem was you can imagine they'd melt too quickly so to capture the intricate details of their splendour and wonder he put together a process of catching them on black velvet while outside in the elements. It's been said his pictures have been done so well that no one has bothered to do what it takes to photograph them again in the last 100 years!
Who knows though! Maybe they've changed a lot! It's been estimated there is well over 5,000 pictures in his collection which one can see at the Jericho Historical Society in Jericho, Vermont. Keep in mind you can start you own collection too for there's enough to go around. If you find yourself short I'd be more than willing to donate mine for microscopic research but PLEASE CALL TODAY! They're going fast! I wouldn't want you to go without! :)
Special Note: I don't want to leave the impression that I was making light of Mr Bentley's hobby, although one could connect humour thoughts to it. He was of course right! The world about his is full of unspoken or even undetected beauty if one would care too look. Sometimes I think we need to do that to appreciate fully our wonderful journey called life.
****************************************************************************
I'd be honoured if you'd consider subscribing to my blog. Merely type in your email in the side bar of this site.
*****************************************************************************
No comments:
Post a Comment