I awoke in the morning and walked to my window. Wow, it's snowing! 

Snowflakes fall from the sky unhurriedly. Looking around, the trees, the roofs, and the streets are all white. The beautiful snowflakes have opened the curtain for the winter in Toronto.

The leafless twigs on the grape vines in my back garden are covered with fluffy, shiny silver icicles, and small snowballs. The clothes-line has become a white, soft cotton rope, of fragile beauty.

Looking at the snowflakes flying in the sky outside my window, a popular song, "I Love You Saibei’s Snow" sings in my mind: "your dancing posture is so light, and your heart is so pure." Snowflakes, you make the earth so beautiful and spectacular, ah, snowflakes, I love you!

Gazing out the window intoxicated, I realize I am not prepared for this early snowfall. My shovel and snow salt are still stored away from the last winter. So I hurriedly dress, retrieve the shovel and salt from my shed, and walk to my front sidewalk to clear the freshly fallen snow. 

Looking around, I see there are no pedestrians on the street. The cars parked on both sides of the road are like big white buns. The branches and leaves are also covered with thick, heavy snowflakes. The snow has covered the roof, the sidewalks, and the garden in front of my door, bending the branches of the trees, and hiding the shocked flowers. 

The falling snow has concealed the appearance of all kinds of flowers and plants. The whole world has melded into a white one, and the detail of the plants has become a series of rounded, soft white shapes.  Colourful red, green and yellow Christmas lights glimmer below the snow in front of my neighbour’s houses as if heralding the entrance to a beautiful fairy tale world.

I remembered a favourite Chinese nursery rhyme, "Snow in winter is a great treat, like a blanket it covers the wheat, next harvest season we’ll have double the wheat”.  The autumn has ended, the winter has arrived.Different seasons of the year bring us different scenery, no matter how we behave, whether we are willing or not, nature will send different gifts to us, like a kind father.

I couldn't help but say from the bottom of my heart to this unexpected early snow, “Hello, early winter!”

       早晨起来走到窗前，哇，下雪了！雪花从天上不紧不慢的飘落下来, 放眼望去，树上，房顶上，街上全是白茫茫的了，美丽的雪花为多伦多的冬天拉开了序幕。

       后院葡萄架上落光了叶子的小枝上，挂满了毛茸茸，亮晶晶的银雪条儿，堆满了蓬松的雪球。平常晒衣服的绳子，变成了雪白的，软绵绵的棉花绳子，着实好看。

       看着窗外漫天飞舞的雪花，脑海中不禁响起一首脍炙人口的歌《我爱你塞北的雪》，“你的舞姿是那样的轻盈，你的心地是那样的纯洁”。雪花，是你把大地装扮得如此美丽，壮观，啊, 雪花，我爱你！

       正望着窗外陶醉呢，忽然想起雪盐，雪铲还没准备好。于是匆忙穿戴完毕，全副武装的冲进后院的库房里，迅速取出雪盐，雪铲，为迎接更多的大雪做好充分准备。我手捧一盒雪盐来到前院，在人行道上仔细地撒了一遍。左右环顾，街上没有行人，汽车也极少，停在马路两边的汽车像一个个雪白的大馒头。树枝，树叶上也挂满了厚厚的，沉甸甸的雪花，雪花盖满了屋顶，盖满了人行道，也盖满了我门前花园的草坪，压弯了花园里的花枝，花的枝干和枝叶上都托着一团团的小雪球。漫天雪花隐没了种种花草的外表，把整个世界溶成了白色的一体，配上街坊邻居门前各色各样圣诞彩灯，仿佛来到了美丽的童话世界。

       想起了一首童谣“冬天雪花是宝贝，去给麦苗盖上被，明年麦子多几倍”。秋去冬来，大自然总是这么恩赐，一年四季不同时节为我们带来不同的风景，无论我们表现如何，愿意不愿意，他都会像一位慈祥的父亲那样，送来我们所需要的一切。我不由得发自内心向这陡然而至的早冬道一声 “亲爱的冬，你好“！

作者、主播介绍

主播介绍

Dave Page, Teacher, Writer, Community Literacy Educator.

Dave Page has been working as a teacher and community leader for over thirty years. He has written books and many resources on teaching. He has been awarded the Ontario Lieutenant Governor Award for his community literacy work.

Dave was given the story “Early Snowfall in Toronto” in November of 2020 just after the first big snow of the season. Says Dave: "Yu Rong's prose of the first snowfall is a universal experience for Canadians - I love Yu Rong's passion for nature, and her attention to detail. It is a pleasure to read this story." 

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