MEMORIES OF A SNOW MANY WINTERS AGO

WHEN I THINK OF AN ART PHOTO

I ALWAYS REMEMBER THIS PHOTO TAKEN

ONE WINTER LONG AGO, LONG BEFORE VIETNAM BECAME A WAR, LONG BEFORE WALTER CRONKITE LEARNED TO ADD BODY COUNTS, LONG BEFORE ROGER MUDD REPORTED FROM THE JUNGLES NEAR THE BLOOD. WHEN I THINK OF AN ART PHOTO, I ALWAYS REMEMBER THE WINTERS OF LONG AGO, LONG BEFORE AMERICANS REALLY HAD TO GO LOOKING FOR ENEMIES OF DEMOCRACY. WHEN I LOOK AT THE SNOW STILL ON THE LIMBS I THINK ABOUT UNCLES AND AUNTS AND THANKSGIVING DINNERS, MY COUSINS WHO WERE ALL STILL ALIVE BACK THEN. THIS KIND OF SNOW MAKES ME THINK ABOUT ALL THE DOGS AND CATS THAT HAVE PASSED ON AND WHERE THEY REST NOW. THE SNOW IS QUIET. THERE ARE SO MANY SECRETS THAT HAVE BEEN HIDDEN AND FOUND OUT ABOUT. THE SNOW LOOKS GOOD IN THE PICTURE, STILL AND NOT MELTING, AS THOUGH ASLEEP FOR A LONG WINTER, NOT A WINTER OF OUR DISCONTENT KIND OF LITERARY WINTER, JUST A WINTER LONG AGO WHEN SO MANY GRANDMOTHERS AND GRANDFATHERS WERE STILL AROUND, SOME DOZING AND WAITING FOR THANKSGIVING DINNER TO BEGIN. THE SNOW IN THIS "ART PHOTO" KIND OF PICTURE MAKES ME THINK OF ALL THE TIME THAT HAS PASSED. THE SNOW IS QUIET. IT WILL NEVER MELT.

By Robert L. Huffstutter