Is it normal to get this strange feeling when looking at traces in the snow?

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9 Comments

It'll be really hard to explain, but I'll try.

So, during winter, I get this really weird feeling when I'm outside and when there's snow. And I've just realised what causes it. It's the various traces in the snow left by people, cars, birds, etc.

The feeling I get is hard to explain, but imagine visiting an abandoned house. Inside of the house, you can see unwashed dishes, notes stuck to a fridge and clothes which people used to wear scattered around the house. And you can feel this strange feeling of abandonment. You don't really feel alone, as you would most likely would if you were on a deserted island, because you can see that there used to be people there, as you can see their past doings and stuff.

This is how I feel every time I go out when there's snow out, as I can see these traces left in the snow by people. I kind of see their past doings and realise that there were people walking through here, but there aren't any more, and it makes me feel lonely and abandoned. Although it's obvious that there were people walking through a certain place as it's a street, but I don't really think about it when there's no snow and no shoe traces in it.

I don't know how else I could explain this, but if you ever felt something like this, you should understand. I can't be the only one who feels this way.

P.S. Sorry for my imperfect English.

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Based on 17 votes (9 yes)
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Comments ( 9 )
  • VVR
    10 years ago

    I love stuff like this!

    Seeing tracks in the snow is kind of like catching a glimpse of someone's life. You don't know who the are, where they live, what they're like. All you know is where they were going (and their shoe size).

    For me, it's almost comforting when I walk through the snow during the day. It's like I'm connected to a total stranger. We could be complete opposites personality wise, and we might hate each other if we ever met, but we both had to cut the same path through the snow that day. So we have that in common.

    At night though, I feel that weird abandonment you described. It's even stronger if it's snowed recently. When the air is so muffled and quiet from the fresh snow, it really feels like you're the last person on Earth. And when there's one lonely track through the snow, well it seems like it's saying, "What are you still doing here? Don't you know everyone's left you behind?"

    It's a tough feeling to describe, but I really like your house metaphor. It kind of feels like you're intruding on the silence sometimes, too, like being in the house you described.

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  • [Old Memory]
    10 years ago

    My dad is like that!

    My parents own a piece of land with a lake on it, so in the winter after it snowed, he'd be absolutely furious if us kids trampled the pretty snow on the surface of the frozen lake. Seriously, it would make him spitting mad.

    When I was a child, I didn't understand his frustration. I was like WTF the deer have traipsed through it, so what's the harm if I do it too. Now that I'm older, I understand his enjoyment of the pristine beauty of nature. Living there was his life's dream and he didn't want his stupid children ruining it for him.

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      10 years ago

      That doesn't sound anything like what I described.

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      • [Old Memory]
        10 years ago

        Even though he didn't feel exactly what you were feeling, seeing traces of human activity in the snow affected him.

        I guess you're unique, just like everyone else. :)

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  • kingofcarrotflowers
    10 years ago

    It's so strange that you would put this as I had a similar occurrence but only once, a while ago I had an almost bipolar tendency to be happy during the day but down at night, I used to go for late night walks to calm my mind, I went out when there was a blanket of snow covering the town and went to the park, I must have spent an hour staring at the echoes of other people etched in the snow, I felt so alone surrounded by footprints, I spend ages wondering where the footprints would lead to and what they were thinking of when they left them, and how there were so many people sharing the same ground yet it still seemed like such a lonley place.

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    • kingofcarrotflowers
      10 years ago

      I love walking in the snow at night now though, and I still think about footprints, it's almost like people watching the past

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      • Anonymous Post Author
        10 years ago

        That's exactly what I'm talking about! I'm so glad I'm not the only one who feels this way, as this is a really amazing feeling and I'd love everyone to be able to feel it.

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      • kingofcarrotflowers
        10 years ago

        How do you feel day to day, do you ever feel like this a different time of the year?

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        • Anonymous Post Author
          10 years ago

          No, only when there's snow outside or when I visit an abandoned place.

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