Today I received a book and CD-Rom I sent away for. I mentioned it a couple of weeks ago-"Bentley's Snowflakes" form Dover Publications. It is awesome! See one of the snowflakes above. The book contains 756 images of very old snowflakes that have lived in infamy. It's pretty cool when you think about it. It's kind of like living forever.
Isn't it amazing? It was flabbergasting to see the variety and intricacy of some of the patterns. It reminds me of a kaleidoscope. There are some shaped like flowers, stars, and some that are more traditional-looking. The only thing they have in common is that they have six sides.
I'm sure you've heard that no two fingerprints are alike, and the same goes for snowflakes. It boggles my mind that such beauty is mostly unseen, and will never be seen by anyone. It's actually kind of sad. But on the other hand, I guess that's what makes the ones we can see very special.
I feel the same way about a beautiful sunrise. I've been blessed to see the sun rise over the Atlantic ocean of Old Orchard Beach. It is a majestic sight, almost a religious experience. But I feel sad to think of all the ones I didn't see, because I don't normally have access to an ocean front view, nor am I always up before the sun rises.
When you think about how much snow there is, and how many flakes....oh well. It's as vast as the number of stars in the sky or grains of sand in all the beaches, only more fragile-since they melt away. That's why I am thankful that Wilson Bentley devoted his life to preserving some magnificent specimens for us to cherish and appreciate. As I leave you with a few more pretty snowflakes, I'm going to try and upload a short film about Wilson Bentley from You tube. I'll be doing a presentation about this tomorrow at work, as part of my class (I had to invite some residents of the assisted living next door).
So enjoy this easy winter of little snow, and check out this informative video. Have a great day!
Karin
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