From my perspective, it’s hard not to see snow on the ground.

Gently falling snow always brings a smile to my face. I can recall trying to catch the falling flakes on my tongue, and the reaction when the cool flakes hit my warm face — once in awhile, hitting my tongue. It’s a fun game to play, and humans of all shapes and ages get a kick out of going after those huge white flakes with our tongues stretched from our mouths.

And as we know, not one snowflake has the same design as another one. They are all similar but different. I watched them fall the other day — huge snowflakes softly falling from the clouds. Thankfully, no big wind — just softly falling flakes. They were beautiful, and are so meaningful at this time of the holiday season.

On my way to a photographer’s presentation, the snow was quietly falling around me. I tried to catch some flakes, but failed. Luckily I was by myself so others didn’t think I was sticking my tongue out at them! Settling myself down in the theater, I still felt a bit of humor in my flake catching attempts, and then the photographer began his program.

He calls himself a street photographer. For many years, he walked the streets of a St. Paul district and asked the citizens there if he could take photos of them — some answered no, but most agreed to his request. He has taken thousands of photographs, and has published books showing people in real life situations. The pictures he showed us were amazing.

His photos showed people doing a lot of different activities. Some were just sitting on their porch steps. some actively working or relaxing, some simply walking and on and on. Watching the presentation, I was once again struck by how similar each person is to another, but also how different we are from each other.

Kind of like snowflakes.

After the photo program, I walked home but the snowfall had ended. Now I heard the snow squeak with each step I took and enjoyed the sound.

Settling into my comfy chair, I wanted a glass of wine. After such an enjoyable experience, I wanted a wine that would be warming to me. Hmmm … which wine? A Cabernet Sauvignon or a merlot? Hey, how about a nice Burgundy or a hardy Tuscan Pinot Grigio? Of course, there’s always a nice New Zealand Pinot Noir or a spicy Zinfandel. So many choices and I just touched the number of wine possibilities.

There are over 10,000 different wine grape varieties in the world. From these many grapes come many more wines from many vintners and production styles and locales. How in the world does one choose what wine is applicable for any given moment?

My suggestion is not to overthink it, just do it.

I grabbed a bottle of La Joya Carménère. Why? Because, at this time of the year, isn’t there a song about bringing some figgy pudding to a party? The wine I choose has a nice taste of figs and spice — perfect for the evening. It was the perfect ending to an eye opening evening.

Snowflakes are like people. Yes, a lot of similarities between the two entities, but a lot of differences, too. Even within families we have the likeness of family, but the individual personalities are there, also. If snowflakes can give us beauty, can’t we give each other some kindness at this time of the year?

Maybe,just maybe, then we will really “see” each other.