True confession: I never set foot outside yesterday! I knew there was snow storm in the forecast, but we live in Minnesota. Snow? Big deal! We’re hearty folk who can’t be stopped by a few flakes! Still, our local meteorologists were practically jumping with glee over this one, literally calling the storm silly names like “snowmageddon” and advising viewers to “hunker down” for the weekend.
I largely ignored their warnings and, on Saturday morning, I was all set to drive to the radio station for Get Real. Right before leaving, I noticed my cell phone was loaded with voice mails and texts. Turns out my co-hosts, Colleen and Joan, were plowed in, up in arms and out of luck. At the last minute, we decided to air a re-run (and thank goodness – had I left, I’d probably still be trying to get there!).
So, there I was, ready to go…with nowhere to go. I turned on the Christmas tree’s twinkling lights. I started a fire in the fireplace. I made coffee. And then I sat down and enjoyed all of it. I can’t remember the last time I had a Saturday morning to just sit back and relax! As the morning went on, the snow kept on coming. The winds were whipping, the sky was steel gray and it looked like our neighborhood had been wrapped in a pure white blanket. I’m sure the meteorologists were breathing a huge sigh of relief because they were actually right.
My superstar hubby went out to snowblow the driveway and shovel our walk. He came back inside looking like a snowman. Within hours, he had to do it all over again because so much snow was falling! (Note: yes, I did offer to help, but he said he’d handle it…and who am I to argue!?)
While he cleared the way, our seven-year-old turned our front yard into a sledding hill. There he is, bundled up from head to toe, checking in with me at the front door. I remember that joyful feeling of being a kid on a snow day. It’s so fun you don’t even realize how cold it is! And then when you finally come in with bright red cheeks and frozen toes, you can’t wait to go back out again.
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Meanwhile, my two year old sat at the front door with me for a long time, watching and giggling as his big brother paved sledding paths through the snow in our front yard. He was dazzled by the falling snow, repeatedly pointing and saying “snow! snow! snow!” with such awe and delight.
By last night, at least 16 inches had fallen and the world as we know it had stopped in its tracks. The airport closed. The snow plows stopped working. Every activity imaginable was cancelled. It was almost eerie how quiet it was around here, save for the occasional scraping shovel or snowblower.
Nearly everyone in our neighborhood, in our city, in our metro area had no choice but to slow down yesterday. Most of us wouldn’t have done that on our own, especially at this time of year, so I gotta give props to Mother Nature. She pulled out all the stops to make all of us all stop and just be.
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I even had time yesterday to work on some art + create a new Etsy treasury called Winter Storm Warning. Hope you like the cool collection! 🙂
