Anticipating the Big Snow

Snow Days bring exceptional opportunities to do things that we don't generally have the luxury of time for.  These simple pleasures are things that I looked forward to all week, as anticipation of Snowmageddon grew and predictions of the number of inches of white flakes increased hourly.  
Here are the things I looked forward to, and the results.

Bird watching.  I knew that our feathered friends would flock to the feeders so I prepared for that by loading them with good suet.  I was well rewarded with visits from three kinds of woodpeckers, the resident pairs of wrens and cardinals, a greedy mockingbird, lots of chickadees and grackles, titmice and a few doves on cleanup crew.

Walking the dog.  Look at that face full of anticipation.  He waited and waited  on the big snow day, until I finally bundled myself in layers, and stuffed poop bags in my pocket for the "w-a-l-k".  As I prepared, I smiled at the thought of him jumping for the snowballs I would be making and tossing for him to catch.  Sadly, he joyfully jumped for snowballs, but his arthritis pained him enough that he was stiff and sore and limping pitifully after the walk; old age is hell.

Staying in my monkey pajamas until noon.  I had my favorite pajamas washed and ready for the snowstorm.  As soon as I woke up on the morning of the big overnight snowfall, in my monkey pajamas, I felt good all over.  I slipped into my fleece lined slippers, knowing I would be warm and toasty for just about as long as I wanted to stay in my comfy bedclothes.  Don't they look great with pearls?

Beef stew.  Once I knew I had a man-child coming home, I started thinking about making beef stew, planning to purchase the ingredients and thinking about how good it would smell simmering in the crockpot (mushrooms, carrots, cilantro, garlic, beef tips, celery, onions and potatoes).  Sure enough, it smelled great, tasted even better and we had leftovers, too. 

Baking cookies.  As soon as he walked in the door for the weekend, my son's first request was that I bake cookies; so I baked chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies.  What a perfect snow day project and they were appreciated by the neighbors, who were all out shoveling. Thinking about them was half of the pleasure, then came the dough-eating, smelling them while baking and finally eating them.  Who says you can’t live on milk and cookies alone.

The morning after.  23" of snow fell at my house.  It ceased before dark on the second day.  The next morning, it was beautiful.  The fingernail moon was still in the sky and there was not a sound.  Then I made heart-shaped cheese biscuits for breakfast.  It was a perfect morning.

Taking pictures of snow.    I hadn’t quite counted on the snow blowing so hard that it was impossible to get a decent photo during the snowstorm without getting drops of water on the lens.  Instead, I looked forward to the morning after, when I could venture out early and see the neighborhood, with crisp blue skies and a dry lens.  Ah, perfect.  And on that morning walk, we saw a hawk in the park.

Shoveling snow.  I wasn't so much looking forward to the shoveling as I was the camaraderie. Decked out in my Uggs, I had great  fun talking to neighbors, sharing cookies, and spending time with my son clearing the sidewalk and driveway in the beautiful sunshine.  We have two shovels.  One is already there and the other is on its way to the "POS" Hall of Fame.  Neither will survive another big snowfall.


It was a great weekend.  The snow is going to be around forever.  Lots of things were cancelled and postponed and we will be feeling the impact for weeks.  

I feel so fortunate.  We did not lose power; our internet never went down.  One big pine tree lost several limbs.  Other shrubs and small trees were flattened by the snow but may bounce back.  We'll know by April or May when the snow may finally be gone.   


It was fun to relax and enjoy simple things and forget about a few others for a while.  I am already anticipating the next snowstorm, which may be sometime soon.