Growing up in Southern California, I thought that snowflakes were only in storybooks. (Like indoor school cafeterias were only on TV.) Nothing in real life could be that perfect and white. Rain was enough cause for excitement. We got to take umbrellas to school and have PE in the auditorium. Playing dodgeball to the beat of the rain outside: that was magical. A schoolyard blanketed in soft whiteness would have been too much.And to Parisians, it seems like too much as well. The city holds it breath when the first flakes fall. All is quiet. Then when the snow sticks to the ground, everyone exhales at once. Policemen appear on street corners in sturdy boots. Children are bundled up like sausages, and women hurry around in fur hats. Soon the crisp whiteness turns to muddy slush. And then the rain returns.
Julie Christie and Omar Sharif as Lara and Dr. Yuri Zhivago. [Online image] 1965.
