Last night, I wished for a snow day. I can’t tell you how long it’s been since I didn’t have anything I had to do on a particular day. Months. So, I wished hard for that snow.
This morning, seven inches of wet snow blanketed my deck and the yard beyond. I had a free day! I watched news coverage of cars sliding on slopes, then went outside in my pajamas and a layer of coat, hat, scarf, and mittens to take pictures of the snow. My lamppost looked funny with its tall white cap. i shook snow off my Japanese maple and boxwood. Some if it went down the back of my neck. Then, I shoveled snow down the hill in two grooves that Mike could use to back out of the garage if he decided to go to work. Shoveling is the kind of thing I do when I want to look normal in my snowy yard, when I can no longer take a turn with the sled down the steep driveway, when there isn’t anyone to throw a snowball at except for Teddy. He danced around and flipped a stick into the air. This was magic. He seemed in awe as much as I was, as much as the birds who dashed through the trees, dislodging hunks of snow from branches where they landed and took off again.
When I’d shoveled down to the highway, I pushed a groove into the place where the garbage truck could drive so they wouldn’t skip emptying our garbage if they came. Two UPS drivers, almost the only ones on the road, waved at me as they drove by.
They waved.
So, I waved back. I love that snow slows things down so that I have a little more time for humanity and magic around me, so that I have a day during which nothing is expected, so that I can play and stare at my nearly black and white landscape. I love that I have nothing more complicated to do today but kludge together some kind of meal tonight from old things in our freezer.
When I came inside, I made popcorn and tea. I intend to read a book.
What do you do with your snow days?
Thank you for listening, jules