Did you know that the first photograph of a snowflake was taken by Wilson Bentley? His first successful photographic plate of a snow crystal was taken 1885. Bentley (1865-1931) used a bellows camera to shoot through a microscope at snowflakes collected on black velvet. During his lifetime, he took more than 5,000 photographs of individual snowflakes. Though his was a scientific inquiry, Bentley had a poet's touch. He called his tiny subjects "ice flowers" and "tiny miracles." The photograph on this posting is from a series of plates Bentley completed in 1902.
Today it is snowy in this part of the country and the street in front of our house has disappeared. Life slows down in the snow. I leave you with a poem from Rumi (b. 1207), from my collection of offerings from our friend Karen in Tennessee:
An Armor of Roses
Take January’s advice. Stack wood.
Weather inevitably turns cold, and you
make fires to stay healthy. Study
the grand metaphor of this yearly work.
Wood is a symbol for absence. Fire,
for your love of God. We burn form
to warm the soul. Soul loves winter
for that, and accepts reluctantly the
comfort of spring with its elegant,
proliferating gifts. All part of the
plan: fire becoming ash becoming
garden soil becoming mint, willow, and
tulip. Love looks like fire. Feed
yourself into it.
