Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

Ah yes, the holidays are very nearly upon us and it appears that all over the Northeast the weather is cooperating in bringing us lovely postcard views of winter weather... snowy landscapes abound, framed by slushy or frozen streams, children; their downy cheeks rosy with cold cavort in nature's drifts; their falls cushioned by fluffy, crunchy, wet and cold snow...

We enjoy the winter, as we should. After all it's a respite from summer's stifling heat and humidity. It feels clean and new and fresh.... it invigorates and sets noses to tingling while also numbing our reddening ears...

And yet, the time comes when we yearn for Spring. We look upon the crocuses and tulips that bravely push themselves through the winter snow and slush in winter's waning days...and nights with a mixture of hope and admiration. But there are other things under the snow aren't there? Awful, ugly, secret things that would smell of rot and frighten the bejeezus out of us if it weren't for their wonderfully concealing blanket of white... What secrets have Mother Nature jealously hidden under her white mantle? Secrets that surface only when she deigns to turn her wintry face away and, perhaps shyly, let us see? Does the snow hide that nice old lady that used to walk her dog near the poplars every morning? What happened to her? Why didn't anyone miss her? What about that little boy that was reported as missing in the next county over? Is that his red cap we see peeking out through the otherwise pristine whiteness? Whatever happened to that poor, sad woman everyone knew was being abused by her husband but everyone kept quiet about? Is that her blue, broken hand poking up from the dirty slush by the side of the road?

For crime writers, our Winter Wonderland is often really a veil of secrets that do not come to light until the thaws of Spring. We know that crime doesn't recognize seasons or pretty landscapes. How often have you heard someone say to a reporter on t.v., "Things like that just don't happen around here..." Maybe the next time you find yourself hiking through those pretty woods, your boots crunching through nature's snowy path, maybe you'll quicken your steps because really, what is the snow hiding? Maybe next time you gaze securely through your kitchen window at the lovely landscape that the winter so graciously provided you, you'll feel a slight shudder and the picture will blur for just a moment as you wonder...what's hiding under the snow in YOUR yard?