Artistic illustration featuring a mountainous landscape with a dark road in the foreground, leading to a large cutout of a white birch tree patterned with purple, black, and yellow accents, set against a starry night sky with a purple hue and distant mountains. The text '61 Fresh Snowfall' and a Route 66 sign are included.

61     FRESH SNOWFALL

KEY CONCEPTS:  fresh start, purity, stillness, cleansing the past, higher altitude of awareness, matters of corruption and innocence.

MESSAGE:  A winter side jaunt to the mountains of Flagstaff or Santa Fe bestows majestic aspen forest views to lucky travelers.  Break out your snowshoes or cross-country skis; snowy peaks in winter serve as nature’s endless wonderland.   Everything looks flawless covered in virgin snow; drifts encompass even glaring imperfections.  What foibles lurk beneath the blizzard’s blanket?  What hidden assets linger?  Approach life with fresh, unbiased eyes; your newfound consciousness generates a clean slate. 

Winter whiteness compels us to slow down and watch our feet.  You can’t focus on footprints in the powder behind you, nor concern yourself with what lies several feet ahead.  Nothing is etched for you to trace:  your steady, forward progress establishes the trail, one footfall at a time.  The present moment supplies the point of power through which both past and future transform. 

The same molecules producing snow or ice also exist as water.  Under the right conditions they change into steam.  Your state of being in this moment alone pertains.  Current views can shape your past- boiling it into fine mist or freezing it into a solid mass.  Has your consciousness been frozen into jagged icicles?  A loving heart can melt them, spilling merciful moisture into a fluid future.  Or have your emotions overheated into hot vapor?  Don’t let exasperation steam your rearview; no need to boil over into seething resentment.  Let go of frozen thought forms...but don’t let your outlook deflate into hot air.  Solitude permeates the crisp, mountain atmosphere, giving rise to breathless clarity.  All reflections of self eventually waver.  Wash away corruption and find innocence in Fresh Snowfall’s rushing stream.

RELATED SITES:  SANTA FE SKI BASIN, SANTA FE, NM; ASPEN VISTA TRAIL, SANTA FE, NM;  ARIZONA SNOWBOWL SKI RESORT, FLAGSTAFF, AZ; KACHINA TRAIL AND  ASPEN LOOP TRAIL, FLAGSTAFF, AZ.