I’ve always loved the saying, “Can’t see the forest through the trees”. I was reminded of that idiom today as I ventured off-trail into the 5″ of left-over fluff to check things out.

Instead of focusing on the snow conditions, I ended up training my camera on the bits of fresh snow delicately perched on the tree branches.

Then I started thinking more deeply about that phrase. What was I missing by focusing in too closely, and what does it really mean to ‘see the forest through the trees’ or ‘not see the forest for the trees’?

In the bigger picture of life, I think it refers to when we struggle to see past the mayhem and distractions to get to the heart of things. Look at all the different layers of things you can see ‘through the trees’, if only you take the time to look…

A fresh fluffy line that was somehow forgotten yesterday…

Powder in the foreground, a chairlift humming behind it, and miles of mountains in the distance…

The solitude of a ski run shared with no one…

What about the layers in between? Behind the trees and in front of the skier, fresh snowflakes float to the ground.

A whole world of wonder, unfolding in the distance.

– April