With the start of January 2017 came a beautiful soft blanket of snow that transiently covered the streets of Aberdeen city and most of Scotland. Snow for me has always been magical. I love to watch it and I love to walk in it. I love the crunch underfoot, the drifting purity of it and  the quietness it brings. It is the epitome of nature’s beauty.  I love how the vastness and barrenness of winter is enveloped in its white serenity.

This January as the flakes made their drifting descent onto Aberdeen’s pavements I felt an unusual sadness that never usually accompanies the snow.  The magic was gone and a kind of grief from being  physically unable to go out and walk in it took over. My sore leg made it an impossibility.

I felt down and frustrated…until I remembered the sparklers.

They were sat in the garden potting shed in a metal bucket – extras from our wedding.

I went outside and took a sparkler and lit it. Instantly it burst into crackling life. Sparks flew, flames and smoke.

I smiled as I whirled it around. I made shapes and patterns with it in the cold night air. The bright gold sparks contrasted enchantingly against the soft whiteness of the snow that lay in the garden.

That January night my sadness dispersed with the smoky trails of a sparkler in the snow.