(edited 3/20/2025)

windshield wipers washed the glass on a cold march morning. as the solution dried, cold air cut a pattern onto the glass. what remained was a beautiful, yet fleeting, crystal display of frost – for mine eyes alone.

once i read no two snowflakes are the same, each one is a unique composition. wilson a. bentley, the first person to photograph a snowflake, shared, “… I have yet found no exact duplicate. In this inexhaustible storehouse of crystal treasures, what a delight is in store for all future lovers of snowflakes. and of the beautiful in nature.” the world has an “inexhaustible storehouse” of fleeting moments which are easily missed by means of distraction. now, some distractions draw us closer to the fleeting moments or inspire us to go searching for what we do not know. we long for adventure (intellectual, physical, or otherwise), it is a part of our God-given nature. it takes one fleeting spark to drive us forward.

bentley is endearingly called, “snowflake bentley” because of his passion for snowflakes and sharing their beauty with the world. he was born and raised in jericho, vermont – which just so happens to be in the middle of the snowbelt. snow was common, needless to say it was more of a nuisance to many than a delight. bentley, however, saw something in the snowflakes that was worth taking pause. his determination and perseverance were essential characteristics in becoming “snowflake bentley”, for this task was riddled with difficulty.

as one can imagine, taking pictures of snowflakes in the middle of the snowbelt sounded a bit weird to others in his community; beyond weird, it was a huge financial commitment to invest in a camera. as a child, he drew snowflakes from his family’s microscope, yet his fascination requested another level of commitment. through the support of his parents, he obtained a camera and pursued snowflakes with greater intensity.

two years of trial and error led to fruitless results and perceived failure. yet, bentley persevered and pushed forward with creativity and erudition. finally, one january day in 1885, it worked – he got his first picture through a microscope of a snow crystal. oh, the elation and joy he must have felt after years of hard work and even more years of passionate pursuit! bentley credited that day as one of the best in his entire life.

snowflakes enraptured dear bentley, and now he has achieved a sense of immortality because of the snowflake’s ephemerality. an evanescent snowflake, became a wonder worth beholding and pursuing for life, for he did not stop with one picture. thousands of unique snowflakes make up his collection for about 13 years. amazingly, this is only part of the legacy this man has left. his study of snowflakes and the discipline of farming expanded his study into many realms of agriculture including rain, dew, meterology, hail, and more. after his death, many who disregarded him during his life began to call him a genius.

john ruskin (a writer in the 19th century) wrote, “The whole difference between a man of genius and other men, it has been said a thousand times, and most truly, is that the first remains in great part a child, seeing with the large eyes of children, in perpetual wonder, not conscious of much knowledge–conscious, rather of infinite ignorance, and yet infinite power; a fountain of eternal admiration, delight, and creative force within him meeting the ocean of visible and governable things around him”. we all have the opportunity to tap into this power and see through the wonder-filled eyes of a child, but it takes a great deal of humility. why should the all-powerful human stop to notice a mere ice crystal that will melt in seconds when touched? perhaps… perhaps we are not as all-powerful as we think and there is something worth noting in ourselves when we stop to notice what is perceived to be lesser.

today is the first day of spring – winter is passing and new budding realities are upon us. what an exciting time of fast changing sceneries. soon our trees will be lush with “light-filled leaves” (wendell berry, sabbaths 1979), already the sap is pumping in their veins to bring forth a new reality. each day will be a new canvas with nuanced shifts, if we care to take notice.

am i positioned to notice a new leaf budding? will i hear when the eggs hatch and chicks tweet their first song? these questions i ask myself in the celebration of spring. and by asking, i begin to notice the art on my windshield with more delight.

~ for reflection ~

III
To sit and look at light-filled leaves
May let us see, or seem to see,
Far backward as through clearer eyes
To what unsighted hope believes:
The blessed conviviality
That sang Creation’s seventh sunrise,
Time when the Maker’s radiant sight
Made radiant every thing He saw,
And every thing He saw was filled
With perfect joy and life and light.
His perfect pleasure was sole law;
No pleasure had become self-willed.
For all His creatures were His pleasures
And their whole pleasure was to be
What He made them; they sought no gain
Or growth beyond their proper measures,
Nor longed for change or novelty.
The only new thing could be pain.

wendell berry