As soon as I walked outside, I was greeted with the [1] shimmering white blanket of cold. Despite the chill [2] overwhelming my skin, inside I was warm. I felt as though I could be [3] giving off heat; I had the desire to stay out in this freeze for hours. It was the type of day that speaks to you through its elements; I took a deep breath to hear more snow was coming.
　　As I walked, I looked up, trying to realize what made this day so beautiful, so serene. It was as if time had been put temporarily on hold and I along with it. Or maybe I was the only one unpaused...
　　Either way, the [4] solitude was comforting, and I sensed myself floating away. I sat down on the edge of a curb and listened. All there was to hear was the wind rushing over the top of my head and circling some old, cracking leaves some yards away. To me it was the reassuring sound of nature, trying not to be forgotten.
　　It did start to snow. None of those little flurries, but big, fat flakes which [5] clung immediately to their surface.
　　Then it was time to go and my [6] reverie had to end. As I began walking again, I drifted back into this time frame, calm and cleared.
Now if only I could remember where I was going.

chill n. 寒意
serene adj. 平静的
temporarily  adv. 临时
curb n. 路边
crack v. （使）破裂
reassuring adj. 可靠的
flurry n. 小雪
flake  n. 薄片（雪花）

　刚出门，扑面而来的是一大片晶莹雪白的冰凉。冷气袭来，肌肤阵阵战栗，而内心却温暖如初。觉得自己似乎能发热，因而渴望在这寒冷中长时间伫足。这是一个大自然与你交流的日子。我深深地吸了一口气，静听雪花飘落，源源不绝……
　　漫步雪中，举目四顾，我努力思索是什么竟然能够把这一天变得如此美丽和宁静。那一刻，时间仿佛停止了，而我也定在其中。或者，只有我一个人在前行……
　　无论如何，这种孤寂令人欣慰。我仿佛脱离了尘世。坐在路边，仔细聆听。只有风从头顶掠过，卷走几码远的干枯树叶。在我心中，这是大自然给人安慰、令人难忘的声音。
　　真的下雪了！不是零星小雪，而是鹅毛大雪，一落地就凝结在一起了。
　　该结束沉思离开了！我举步前行时，思绪又转回到现实中来，而此时感觉如此平静，如此清新。
我实在记不得我要往何处去了！

增值英语

1.shimmering：shimmering是一个动名词，它的动词形式是shimmer，表示“闪光”、“闪亮”等意思。“Moonlight is shimmering on the lake” (湖上月光闪烁)。shimmer也可做名词，如： “the shimmer of pearls” (珍珠的闪光)。在这里shimmering翻译成“晶莹的”，用来形容雪花。

2.overwhelm：“征服”、“使受不了”。想想看，当寒冷袭来的时候，你皮肤的反应会是什么呢？那可以用“战栗”来形容。

3.give off：“发出”的意思，“give off a bad smell” (发出恶臭)。“give thick smoke off” (冒出浓烟)。

4.solitude：有“孤单”、“寂寞”、“独居”、“隐居”等意思。我们都知道lonely是“孤独的”的意思，它表示一种令人难受的孤独。而solitude有时是一种美好的感觉，要不怎么会有那么多人隐居呢？

5.cling ：cling (to)的意思是“粘着”、“缠着”， “The mud clung to her shoes” (泥浆粘在她的鞋上)。

6.reverie：“幻想”、“沉思”，如：“have a reverie about the delicious nuts” (幻想着美味果仁)。“be lost in reverie”，（陷入沉思）。