I never knew the difference between snow and freezing rain before today. When I took my dog out in the morning, it was neither snowing nor raining but maybe a hybrid. Instead of usual layers of opaque white dusts from snow, the ground was covered with a sheet of transparent ice.

Later in the afternoon, I took a walk around my neighborhood. It was finally sunny. As I walked, water droplets fell over me. I realized that water wasn’t rain falling from the sky but from trees that were frozen. I took a closer look at the branches. They were wrapped around with ice, as if they were glazed with glass. The icicles hanging from branches and leaves were gradually melting and shedding water.

A strong wind swept through the park, causing the branches to shake off water all at once. As I watched this sudden downpour along the trees, I could visualize a conductor swiftly waving a baton as the orchestra picks up the tempo and crescendos in a dramatic symphonic piece—bowing fast on strings and cymbals hitting. At the same time, the sunlight glimmering on glossy icicles hanging from the branches made me feel at peace. This scene in the park was a testament to Vivaldi’s Winter—thejuxtaposition between intense first movement and the serene second movement.

Out of curiosity, I Googled freezing rain. After going through a warm layer of air and melting completely, snowflakes go through a layer of freezing air but don’t have enough time to refreeze before hitting the ground. The water then refreezes on contact with any object that’s at the freezing point or below. The ice-coated tree branches I saw earlier were once snowflakes that turned into liquid then crystallized.

In the midst of tumultuous events revolved around Russia’s invasion in Ukraine and going through a rejection in my personal life, I needed this moment to reflect and appreciate the natural beauty around me. Living in a dirty metropolitan city, I have to be intentional about finding green space and reconnecting with nature. In spite of conflicts and pains, life carries on like water falls down, from snowflakes to icicles melting and dripping droplets. It’s pure and precious.