I think happiness comes in small… moments. Like tiny bursts of falling stars. It’s nothing tangible, but this light and fuzzy feeling that makes you float for just a few seconds (longer if you are lucky). It’s that instant when your face breaks into an uncontrollable smile. Or when you catch something truly mesmerizing and it feels like the world around you just stops moving.

I know most of you can name a few of these happy moments, right of the bat. Holding your first child, getting behind the wheel of that shiny new sports car, looking into the eyes of a man you love… Well, you get the idea. Ironically, my recent happy moment is so very basic, but in a way, it kind of defines my true self.

To finally get to the point… a couple of weeks ago, I found myself walking in a full-blown snowstorm to a deserted, frozen pier in a town of Piermont, NY. On the day when well below freezing temperatures and piling up snow banks, winter alerts and road closures would keep most people indoors under the covers with hot chocolate in hand, I thought it would actually be fun to drive up to a quaint town on a Hudson River that I haven’t been to in a while… Fully equipped with a really good AWD, lots of layers and a partner in crime, of course.

There weren’t many cars out, so the drive up was easy. The town was empty. The snow kept falling heavily and prettily. The river was almost completely frozen over as far as the eye could see. Following a long path to the pier along the river bank, there was so much snow. The snow-covered ground mixing with the fast falling snowflakes almost completely blurred the horizon line. Only trees, pier posts and a solitary road provided some contrast to the otherwise absolute white vastness. It was cold and getting colder and except for one local passerby, there was nobody in sight. But I didn’t care, I didn’t want to leave. I just wanted to keep walking… It was so beautiful, I was spellbound.

Like many others, I do my share of nature immersions, but there was something primal, pure and altogether indescribable in this remote snow landscape that moved me to my core and made me feel… utterly happy.

For more pics, visit my Piermont set on Flickr.