The First Snowfall of 26’

The date was Friday October 16, and temperatures on this fall morning had dropped precipitously since the relatively warm sun reigned during the previous weekend. Though rays of sunshine did eventually emerge through the glum pack of grey clouds, it was not enough to quell or counter the wind's aggressive gust of chilly air. It was clear, as I zipped up my light jacket in a failed attempt to decrease direct contact with these discomforting elements, that we had reached a new season in earth’s perennial cycle, that powerful natural forces were hard at work on this transitionary day. At once, perhaps a few minutes before 10am, it happened: flakes of snow, first in small numbers but soon with marching regularity, fell from the sky, landing on my skin as I reached out a hand to confirm my startled observation.

Many a’ cold March mornings I have prepped for the biting chill yet still ended up near frostbite; many April evenings I have underestimated the drop in temperature following the dissolution of twilight. But none of these springtime experiences compared to the fall breeze on this Friday morning. It was almost as if, like the first wave of an approaching tsunami, I could feel the power of what was soon to come; as if the fall wind was backed by the full momentum and weight of the winter waiting in the wings. In that moment, it felt as though the conditions of summer could no longer hold, and, emulating a barbarian horde who for weeks had starved out a city behind the protective walls, an inevitable force finally broke through the barrier, and triumphantly commenced a new season. The initial phase of winter had passed through Atikokan on this day.

{Beira, the Queen of Winter, known in Scottish Folklore as the Winter Goddess}

A force of any kind, be it a person, institution, or weather event, is made tremendously more powerful when behind them they are backed by a collective energy of momentum. In the academic discipline of history, there is a long standing debate over ‘the Great Man Theory’, which argues that significant events of the past, be it revolution, warfare, or discovery, are the result of the will and action of a few special individuals. But examine any of these figures in a larger context, and it is clear that behind their genius or heroism, was an intensely powerful cultural momentum pushing them upwards towards their revolutionary goals. Napoleon followed the euphoric idealism of the French revolution; Alexander followed the expansive footsteps of his father’s generation; Caesar followed decades of mass public dissatisfaction, and other rebellious generals such as Sulla who had previously marched on Rome. 

All of this to say that powerful forces rarely exist in isolation. Whereas the chill of the awakening spring sunrise suddenly evaporates following the initial break of day, the air of late fall is unrelenting because it is at the vanguard of a new era, driven by unstoppable cycles core to the earth and solar system. There is little hope in fighting it. Just like Alexander was backed by an emboldened army poised to conquer the known world, and remake the geopolitical map of Eurasia, so too is our winter wind poised to carry forth with reinforced momentum. So, when I saw the snow fall from atop the heavens, I smiled, content to ride the wave.