WEBVTT 1 00:00:07.240 --> 00:00:11.160 You find it on a Tuesday afternoon in a small 2 00:00:11.279 --> 00:00:14.080 thrift shop on the corner of a street you do 3 00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:18.640 not usually walk down. The shop is full of things 4 00:00:18.800 --> 00:00:24.079 other people have left behind, old lamps with cracked shades, 5 00:00:25.039 --> 00:00:29.359 piles of books with yell old pages. You have come 6 00:00:29.399 --> 00:00:32.159 in because it is raining and you do not want 7 00:00:32.200 --> 00:00:35.600 to walk home in the wet, and the shop is 8 00:00:35.719 --> 00:00:41.280 warm and quiet. You move slowly through the aisles, picking 9 00:00:41.359 --> 00:00:46.240 things up and putting them back down. Nothing calls to you. 10 00:00:47.520 --> 00:00:51.399 And then on a shelf near the back, behind a 11 00:00:51.439 --> 00:00:55.520 stack of old records, you see it. It is a 12 00:00:55.560 --> 00:01:00.079 snow globe, about the size of a large apple, sitting 13 00:01:00.119 --> 00:01:04.640 on a base of dark wood. Inside the glass there 14 00:01:04.719 --> 00:01:08.719 is a tiny village. You can see the small houses 15 00:01:08.840 --> 00:01:13.480 with their peaked roofs, the church with its steeple, the 16 00:01:13.519 --> 00:01:17.719 square in the center with a tree, and around it 17 00:01:17.920 --> 00:01:23.439 all snow, not the thick, chunky snow some snow globes have, 18 00:01:24.359 --> 00:01:30.519 but fine, delicate snowflakes that float and drift like real snow, 19 00:01:31.640 --> 00:01:34.840 like the first snow of the year. When the flakes 20 00:01:34.959 --> 00:01:38.640 seem to hang in the air before they land, you 21 00:01:38.719 --> 00:01:43.239 pick it up. It is heavier than you expect. The 22 00:01:43.280 --> 00:01:47.159 glass is smooth and clear, and the wood base is 23 00:01:47.239 --> 00:01:52.560 worn soft, as if many hands have held it before you. 24 00:01:52.560 --> 00:01:56.159 You turn it gently, and the snow begins to fall 25 00:01:56.239 --> 00:02:01.239 inside the globe. The tiny flakes swore and settle on 26 00:02:01.319 --> 00:02:05.400 the roofs and the branches and the ground. It is 27 00:02:05.599 --> 00:02:11.360 very small and very complete, this little world inside the glass. 28 00:02:11.360 --> 00:02:15.520 And then you hear it. It is faint, so faint 29 00:02:15.560 --> 00:02:17.639 that at first you think it is coming from a 30 00:02:17.759 --> 00:02:24.439 radio somewhere, but the shop is quiet. There is no radio. 31 00:02:24.639 --> 00:02:29.080 The sound is coming from the snow globe. It is music, 32 00:02:30.159 --> 00:02:35.039 a small, simple melody, like a music box or a flute, 33 00:02:35.599 --> 00:02:39.319 playing a tune you do not recognize, but that feels 34 00:02:39.479 --> 00:02:44.319 very old and familiar, the way a lullaby feels familiar 35 00:02:44.520 --> 00:02:48.000 even if you have never heard it before. It is 36 00:02:48.080 --> 00:02:51.360 a gentle tune, the kind that makes you think of 37 00:02:51.439 --> 00:02:55.960 snow falling and fires burning and warm rooms at the 38 00:02:56.080 --> 00:02:59.719 end of a cold day. You hold the globe closer 39 00:02:59.719 --> 00:03:04.879 to you. The music is still there, soft and clear. 40 00:03:06.159 --> 00:03:10.439 It rises and falls like breathing. You look into the 41 00:03:10.479 --> 00:03:14.360 globe at the tiny village, and you feel something shift 42 00:03:14.439 --> 00:03:20.479 inside you, a settling, a quieting. The rain on the 43 00:03:20.520 --> 00:03:26.919 windows seems very far away. There is only this, this globe, 44 00:03:27.159 --> 00:03:33.560 this music, this small, perfect world. You buy it. The 45 00:03:33.639 --> 00:03:36.120 woman at the register does not look up from her 46 00:03:36.120 --> 00:03:39.960 crossword puzzle. She takes your money and gives you a 47 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:43.840 small paper bag, and you carry the snow lobe palm 48 00:03:43.919 --> 00:03:48.919 in the rain, holding it carefully against your chest. That night, 49 00:03:49.599 --> 00:03:52.680 you sit in your chair by the window with the 50 00:03:52.719 --> 00:03:56.919 snow globe in your hands. The room is dark except 51 00:03:56.919 --> 00:04:00.439 for the lamp beside you, which casts a way warm 52 00:04:00.520 --> 00:04:04.400 circle of light on your lap and on the globe. 53 00:04:04.719 --> 00:04:08.000 You turn it gently, and the snow begins to fall. 54 00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:13.280 The music begins to play, and you watch the village 55 00:04:13.319 --> 00:04:16.199 inside the globe is alive in a way that a 56 00:04:16.279 --> 00:04:21.279 snow globe should not be. The snow falls and falls, 57 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:25.759 but it never seems to pile up. It melts and 58 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:31.319 rises again, like breath in winter air. The light inside 59 00:04:31.360 --> 00:04:36.079 the globe changes slowly from pale glue to warm gold 60 00:04:36.319 --> 00:04:40.560 to deep purple. The tiny windows of the tiny houses 61 00:04:40.639 --> 00:04:44.600 glow as if there are tiny people inside, sitting by 62 00:04:44.680 --> 00:04:49.319 tiny fires. You cannot see them, but you can feel 63 00:04:49.360 --> 00:04:54.360 the warmth of that village, small and safe inside its glass. 64 00:04:55.319 --> 00:04:59.000 You hold the globe closer, and the music fills you. 65 00:05:00.040 --> 00:05:03.839 It is not just sound, It is a feeling. It 66 00:05:03.959 --> 00:05:07.439 is the feeling of sitting by a window on a 67 00:05:07.480 --> 00:05:12.360 winter evening, watching the snow fall, with a cup of 68 00:05:12.399 --> 00:05:15.600 tea and nowhere to go. It is the feeling of 69 00:05:15.680 --> 00:05:20.040 being held. You let the music wash over you, and 70 00:05:20.120 --> 00:05:23.959 you feel yourself letting go of the day. The small 71 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:28.240 worries on your shoulders begin to dissolve, like the snow 72 00:05:28.480 --> 00:05:32.399 inside the globe. Over the next few days, you discover 73 00:05:32.600 --> 00:05:37.240 that the globe changes, not in any dramatic way, but 74 00:05:37.279 --> 00:05:43.079 the village shifts gently with the seasons. On the second night, 75 00:05:43.600 --> 00:05:47.600 the snow has stopped. There are tiny green leaves on 76 00:05:47.639 --> 00:05:51.920 the tree in the square. The houses look warmer, their 77 00:05:52.000 --> 00:05:57.199 doors open. The music has changed too. It is the 78 00:05:57.240 --> 00:06:02.720 same melody, but it sounds like summer, like sunlight and 79 00:06:02.879 --> 00:06:07.439 warm evenings and cut grass. On the third night, the 80 00:06:07.560 --> 00:06:12.560 leaves have turned gold and red. The snow has begun 81 00:06:12.600 --> 00:06:16.959 to fall again, but lightly, as if the village is 82 00:06:17.279 --> 00:06:23.639 just beginning to remember winter. The music is softer, now slower. 83 00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:28.560 On the fourth night, the village is deep in winter again. 84 00:06:29.600 --> 00:06:34.040 The snow falls, thick and fast, and the houses are 85 00:06:34.079 --> 00:06:37.759 warm and glowing. And the music is the music of 86 00:06:37.800 --> 00:06:41.879 the first night, the lullaby. You watch it every night. 87 00:06:42.959 --> 00:06:46.240 You sit in your chair and hold the snow globe, 88 00:06:46.360 --> 00:06:49.079 and you let the music and the light take you 89 00:06:49.160 --> 00:06:54.160 somewhere quiet and safe. You do not try to understand 90 00:06:54.199 --> 00:06:57.759 how the village changes. You do not try to figure 91 00:06:57.759 --> 00:07:02.120 out where the music comes from. You simply accept it. 92 00:07:03.720 --> 00:07:07.439 Some things are gifts. They do not need to be explained. 93 00:07:08.480 --> 00:07:13.199 The globe becomes part of your evening. After dinner, you 94 00:07:13.279 --> 00:07:17.800 make tea, You sit in your chair, You pick up 95 00:07:17.800 --> 00:07:22.839 the globe. You turn it gently, and the world inside 96 00:07:23.000 --> 00:07:28.240 begins to move. The snow falls, or the leaves rustle, 97 00:07:29.040 --> 00:07:33.360 or the light changes from gold to purple. The music 98 00:07:33.439 --> 00:07:39.480 begins soft and clear, and you close your eyes and listen. 99 00:07:40.680 --> 00:07:43.639 You feel the weight of the globe in your hands, 100 00:07:43.720 --> 00:07:48.480 solid and warm. You feel the smoothness of the glass. 101 00:07:49.600 --> 00:07:53.600 You feel the worn wood of the base, soft with 102 00:07:53.720 --> 00:07:57.000 the touch of all the hands that held it before you. 103 00:07:57.000 --> 00:08:00.160 You think about those hands. You wonder who held this 104 00:08:00.199 --> 00:08:03.120 globe before you. Did they sit in a chair like 105 00:08:03.199 --> 00:08:06.639 this one? Did they watch the snow fall and feel 106 00:08:06.639 --> 00:08:10.519 the same piece. You will never know, but you feel 107 00:08:10.560 --> 00:08:14.360 connected to them through this small glass world that has 108 00:08:14.480 --> 00:08:18.680 passed from hand to hand. The seasons change inside the 109 00:08:18.720 --> 00:08:23.360 globe and outside your window, too. Autumn turns to winter, 110 00:08:24.079 --> 00:08:28.279 the trees lose their leaves. Snow begins to fall in 111 00:08:28.319 --> 00:08:34.000 the streets, real snow, thick and white. You watch the 112 00:08:34.120 --> 00:08:38.759 real snow fall and the tiny snow fall, and the 113 00:08:38.799 --> 00:08:42.519 two feel like the same thing, Like the whole world 114 00:08:42.639 --> 00:08:46.440 is a snow globe, and some one very kind is 115 00:08:46.519 --> 00:08:51.279 turning it gently. You hold the globe closer. The music 116 00:08:51.399 --> 00:08:55.720 fills the room. The snow falls inside the glass, tiny 117 00:08:55.879 --> 00:09:00.960 and perfect, and the village glows with warmth. You feel 118 00:09:00.960 --> 00:09:05.799 your breathing slow, You feel your body grow heavy. The 119 00:09:05.919 --> 00:09:10.080 lamp casts its warm light, and the globe catches that 120 00:09:10.200 --> 00:09:14.080 light and holds it, glowing like a small sun. In 121 00:09:14.120 --> 00:09:18.600 your hands. You think about the village inside the globe, 122 00:09:18.799 --> 00:09:23.480 the houses, the church, the tree in the square. You 123 00:09:23.600 --> 00:09:26.799 think about the people who might live there, sitting in 124 00:09:26.840 --> 00:09:31.320 their warm houses, listening to the same music. You think 125 00:09:31.360 --> 00:09:34.559 about how they must feel safe, how they must feel 126 00:09:34.559 --> 00:09:39.960 at home. You feel that way too. You feel safe, 127 00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:44.639 You feel at home. The globe is warm in your hands, 128 00:09:45.759 --> 00:09:51.559 the music is soft and clear. The snow falls and falls, 129 00:09:52.440 --> 00:09:56.840 and the world outside is quiet and white, and the 130 00:09:56.879 --> 00:10:00.080 only sounds are the music from the globe and the 131 00:10:00.120 --> 00:10:05.360 soft breathing of the night. Your eyes grow heavy, the 132 00:10:05.399 --> 00:10:10.440 gullet blurs in your hands, the tiny village becoming awash 133 00:10:10.559 --> 00:10:16.440 of light and snow and warmth. The music slows, or 134 00:10:16.480 --> 00:10:20.039 perhaps it does not slow, and it is only you 135 00:10:20.200 --> 00:10:24.559 who is slowing, your thoughts drifting away like the snow, 136 00:10:25.519 --> 00:10:29.200 like leaves on a river. You do not put the 137 00:10:29.240 --> 00:10:32.519 globe down. You hold it in your lap as you 138 00:10:32.639 --> 00:10:37.200 drift towards sleep, or perhaps you fall asleep in the chair. 139 00:10:38.240 --> 00:10:42.480 It does not matter. What matters is that you are warm, 140 00:10:43.279 --> 00:10:47.000 and the globe is warm, and the music is playing, 141 00:10:47.799 --> 00:10:52.440 and the snow is falling, and you are safe. You 142 00:10:52.480 --> 00:10:59.320 are held, You are home, and you sleep deeply and peacefully, 143 00:11:00.159 --> 00:11:02.720 the way you slept when you were small and the 144 00:11:02.799 --> 00:11:06.320 world was simple, and some one was watching over you. 145 00:11:07.519 --> 00:11:12.120 The globe watches over you now. The music carries you. 146 00:11:13.279 --> 00:11:18.080 The snow falls, soft and endless, and you fall with it, 147 00:11:19.039 --> 00:11:24.679 deeper and deeper into sleep, into peace, into the quiet 148 00:11:24.759 --> 00:11:25.559 heart of the night.