It is rare to see snow in the winter in the Nanling area. When I was a child, I heard my elders say that if you don't have frost, you won't farm, and if you don't snow, you won't live in the New Year. At that time, the winter was much colder than it is now, and I remember that there was always snow once a year, and frost was a common occurrence. Because I look forward to the New Year, and because it is fun to have a snowy day, I look forward to snow when it comes to winter. However, the snow is delayed and the wait is uncomfortable, so let's play with the ice first.
The cold wind blew suddenly, the temperature plummeted, and when I woke up in the morning, a thin layer of ice formed in the pond and ditch. When you knock on the branch, it will break and scatter, and the water will gush out, but the children will grab it with their hands and play with it, and the crystal ice cube, placed in the palm of their hand, will soon turn into water;I also licked it with my mouth to feel the cold that penetrated deep into the bone marrow.
Wait, wait, wait, as the year approaches, dark clouds cover the sky and the sun, accumulating thicker and thicker, and the pressure is getting lower and lower, and finally it is fluttering, and the snow is falling, knocking on the roof, rustling. The children cheered and ran out shouting, "It's snowing, it's snowing.......""Dense clouds of snow were scattered on the head and on the earth, and in a short time the ground was covered with a thin layer, like salt and powder. The snow became heavier and thicker, but at most it was only two or three inches, and the snow became smaller......After a while, the snow seemed to come and go, until it stopped completely.
The earth after the snow is dressed in plain clothes and glows with silver light. The fields, the roads, the front and back of the houses, and the cornices were also covered with snow. The snow is thick in low-lying areas, but there is no snow in the tuyere. The grass and trees still glowed green, but they seemed to be wounded, wilted, and without their former vigor. Most of the insects, fish, birds and beasts are hidden, and the restless ones are the sparrows, which always have to fly out to feed, even if there is little hope, they must not stop chirping. Adults talk around the fire, but children are the only ones who immerse themselves in the world of ice and snow: building snowmen, having snowball fights, ......
The next day, the sun broke through the dark clouds and shone on the earth. The snow is melting. The snow on the ground slowly thins out, revealing moist soil;The snowman is not eroded to the point of not being shaped;The snow on the eaves drips down, and the undripped part forms ice cubes.
As the saying goes, snow is not cold and snow melts cold. At this time, the cold wind is bitter, especially biting, but the children are not afraid of the cold, although the clothes are thin, the hands and feet grow frostbite, but they are still playing with ice cubes under the eaves: knock the ice down with a stick, some fall to the ground and smash, some accidentally hit the head, fortunately it is not painful, if it falls into someone's neck, immediately burst into laughter and laughter......However, after a day or two, the snow on the earth disappeared and became muddy water by trampling, and the New Year came in a hurry.
Ruixue Trillion Year. For the croppers, they are also looking forward to a snowfall, preferably an overwhelming snowfall, because the heavy snow predicts a good harvest in the coming year. People sit around the fire and inevitably talk about it, but the children don't care about it, and their eyes are fixed on the next goal - the upcoming Chinese New Year.
The snow in Nanling is just a moment of beauty, a greeting from winter to spring, and an indispensable prelude to the new year. It's a pity that most of the heavens have omitted this link now.
The snow in the South Ridge that I remember!
December 27, 2023.