It's a kind of magic

I saw some snow, it was surreal. It felt very ethereal and somewhat magical.

Well, I saw some snow on a distant mountain from the train.

Snow!
At the temple in Nagano.

There was a big pile nearby.

These flowers had some snow. 

No? The lot next door were making a better showing of it.

There was even a small amount on the ground nearby that no one had swept into a giant slightly muddy pile.

Okay, so Nagano's snow wasn't particularly magical.

I saw some snow that was closer on the train to Yudanaka Onsen

And the "river" had some snow beside it.

There were some stairs leading down to snow untouched by some monk's filthy broom.

Clean enough to touch!
Now my fingers are cold, that was dumb.

That evening as I left the Ryokan in search of dinner, it had begun to snow.

It's very difficult to capture snow in a still photo.

So here's a Youtube video instead.

After dinner I took a soak in the Onsen at the Ryokan

It was outside

There's a gap in the two coverings that lets the snow through.

If there's anything more magical than soaking in a hot tub while it snows on you, I'd like to know...