Its snowing, day 2, March 18th 2018. When my brother died back in January 2013, it was cold. The day he was buried, it was snowing. Great flurries of snow, which acted to slow everything down, the traffic and everyday business as usual seemed to slow down to a stand still. The funeral from the church to the cemetry was a long drive, but no one was going anywhere fast. This gave us time to 'Be' and to 'breathe' with what was happening. All too often a loved dies and the funeral whizzes us through the pain, giving us the distraction that brings us far away from just 'being.' Business as usual keeps pumping all around, and the treadmill calls people back to resume their part in accelerating consumerism. No one is allowed time to grieve there just isn't 'time'. When the snow came that day it was like painting the scene in a glow that allowed us to 'be' in the moment. Business was not going anywhere, the world came to a peaceful idle, and the breathe increased to fullness. Each snow flake is a crystal that brings beauty to the world, reflecting light and holding our attention to gaze at the moments that otherwise scuttle by. That my brother's funeral was decorated with snow, fills me with peace as I recall the peace and beauty of that day. The world around could not get itself up and running, until the snow had melted. The snow on that day showed us mercy and love to 'be' totally present. Snow too, has the capacity to freeze and grip emotions, lift them up and loosen them back into water that drains softly into mother earth, cleansed from the discoloration of pain. Today the snow gives us a breather. It comes at point in time that concerns several incoming energy shifts, perhaps the snow is here to give us the 'time' to BE and allow integration without the distraction of Business as usual. Michaela.

Photo: Liam Grant

Much Love to my beloved brother.