What DOES snow smell like?

Those of you who know me well will know I become passionately evangelical about books I love! I want everyone to read and discover books that have an impact on me, so it's strange I haven't yet put up a list of Books That Have Changed My Life on this blog - something else I must do! But in the meantime here is the current book I'm being changed by... From the Introduction: 'To be an artist it is not necessary to make a living from our creations... It is not necessary that we are published... To be an artist it is necessary to live with our eyes wide open, to breathe in the colours of mountain and sky, to know the sound of leaves rustling, the smell of snow, the texture of bark... To be an artist is to notice every beautiful and tragic thing, to cry freely, to collect experience and shape it into forms that others can share.'
And this next paragraph hit me straight and true: 'There are alot of things we don't have in life, but time is not one of them. Time is all we have. One lifetime under this name to produce a body of work that says, "This is how I saw the world." Your work is worthy of whatever time it takes.'
And I realized this is what I'm seeking to do when I 'make stuff' - it's to put something out there that says 'This is me - this is how I see and feel' - and this is why this blog is an important - and dare I say it sacred - space to me. It's where I dare to call myself an artist...