Good Morning Sunshine

Snow fell last night. This morning the sky is blue and the sun shines brightly. That’s the way it is after a snowfall. One day it snows and the next day is bright and sunny. The day after a snowfall is never cloudy, never overcast. The day after a snowfall is always sunny. Why is that? Is it a central Virginia thing?

My living room walls are painted with bone-white paint. I know that because I bought the paint and I painted them. But normally the walls look like they have been painted a very pale shade of green. That’s because the windows have awnings and so the light coming through them is primarily reflected off the green lawn or off green boxwoods below the windows. But now the lawn and the boxwoods are white, and the living room is filled with a brightness that never appears except on the lustrous day after snow covers the ground. The light outside is so dazzling that looking through a window hurts my eyes.

It’s late morning now, almost 10:30 AM, and the temperature is 37° F. Today’s high is supposed to be 41°. The snow is already melting under the sunshine. I hear an occasional thud as a patch of snow slides off the roof and strikes the awning below. By late afternoon it may all be gone. In the meantime, it makes a pretty day.