Changing scene in Hokkaido

Visited Hokkaido during the second week of November. First thing the local tour guide commented was about the time we chose to visit as the last autumn leaves have fallen and the snow has yet to come. Despite the barren trees, the grayish landscape can actually be quite beautiful in its own way. I would have enjoyed the scenery more had I not googled (marveling at the stunningly colourful fields in summer and the brilliant lights during the snow festival in winter) and blamed myself continuously for not doing more research on the best time to visit. This is a typical example of not enjoying the moment fully, clouded by the thought of missing on something better, in simple word 'greed'.

Then out of the blue, just 2 days before the tour ended, the weather took pity on us and delighted us with some light drifting snow flakes. That night it turned into a heavy snowfall and I watched in bewilderment from the hotel window the grounds and the cars gathering layers after layers of snow. The next day as we retraced the route we had travelled before, the sceneries had changed overnight into miles and miles of white landscape, a far cry from the yellowish brown fields the day before. A thick blanket of white covered the horizon. Snow was everywhere leading right up to the doorway of houses. I wondered about people living in temperate countries, how they need to adapt to waking up in the morning to find they could not get out of their house, and how they need to react accordingly.

As miles and miles of whiteness rolled before my eyes I felt the meaning of change at another level, its unpredictability, its suddenness and how it can be beyond control. It is similar with life I guess. One needs to be prepared and have the shovel ready to clear the snow when it blocks the doorway.