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From My Desk

BY ELIZABETH LAHOOD HINNEN

In central Illinois, we are no strangers to snowfall, ice, and the cold. We welcome it every winter with equal
excitement and dread.

I eagerly await that white crisp layer that makes it feel like Christmas. I personally find snow the most beautiful when I’m enjoying it from inside, looking out the window with a warm drink in hand, while wearing sweatpants. But that sentiment quickly changes when I realize I forgot to buy extra salt, misplaced the shovel, and it sinks in that our car isn’t going to make it out of the driveway.

Snow is yet another element of the holidays in which we tend to rush through the enjoyment, only to focus on the inconvenience it has created. It’s crazy how our perspective switches from when we are children looking forward to snow days, snowmen, and snow ball fights, then in adulthood shifting to frozen pipes, driving conditions, heating bills, and black ice. 

This winter season, no matter your perspective, I challenge you to dig a little deeper (pun intended) and focus, not on what snow affects, but what it is made up of-snowflakes! It’s hard to believe that those tiny individual flakes have such potential to shift our perspective, mood, memories, and plans. And the craziest part of all? There are no two that are the same. When they fall from the clouds, each one’s journey is unique due to their sensitivity to fluctuating temperatures. They, much like people, blend into the masses, but have their own stories to tell. 

This Christmas season, I hope you keep your perspective like that of a child, and take the time to look at the snowflakes around us, even if it hasn’t yet snowed.

Sincerely,
Elizabeth Hinnen, Founder and Editor-in-Chief at CBM