It's snowing here and I love the snow. I love to ice skate, love to wear big sweaters and boots and eat hearty stews and build fires. When I was little I always felt that snow signaled a fresh start because it changed the way everything looked and took boring, gray streets and made them glisten with promise. It was like heaven opened up and said, here you go, start fresh today. I think of that as Barack Obama is about to become our 44th president, as Martin Luther King's prophetic voice rises in hope and courage across the years, as Bruce Springsteen sings on the steps on the Lincoln Memorial, as the plane is pulled up from the cold waters of the Hudson — the miracle plane, the miracle pilot, and all the passengers safe.
May it snow a little longer and cover all the places we need to see changed, may the music keep playing, and may hope flow over us and upend our fears and stop the memories of so many bad endings. May we embrace hope like never before in this historic week of fresh starts and bold beginnings.