We've had plenty of it. Calvin is fondly referring to the snow mounded up on either side of our driveway as the Himalayas. A few days ago he was meandering his way along them, and up and down them, and along them, and up and down them, and all the time he was snuffling and snorting and whispering to himself. I asked him what he was doing.
"I'm a panda. I have to find food because most of my homeland is gone."
It doesn't mean you have to stay inside.
Sledding by the pond.
Snow crater in the backyard.
We are spending the entire weekend reorganizing the house in order to make a more proper "learning office" for Calvin (we want him to be able to reach his crayons and markers without leaving them accessible to the pets, which can be more disastrous than it sounds). The dogs are desperately trying to ignore the chaos all around them. I'd say it's working.
The snow is falling softly outside and looks almost magical in the street light on the corner. Coming in earlier from a quick romp in the snow with the dogs Jon offered that someone should move Christmas to February, and watching those big flakes floating down I know what he means; two snow storms and a week of almost continual snow makes this feel an awful lot like December. It's beautiful, and I'm enjoying it mostly because I know that March, and then April, is just around the corner.
Looking outside to see this same sight on Sunday night was a surprise to us; I hadn't checked the weather in a while—we'd just been enjoying the warmth and the sun—so the heavy snowflakes were a bit shocking. Jon's bosses called Monday morning to tell him not to brave the roads to come in (being able to work from home in the winter is a real benefit), so instead we went out to brave the heavy snow blanketing our driveway.
Calvin is a big help. He actually really loves to shovel, and will shovel everywhere he goes, he just doesn't walk in a straight line while he's at it and we end up with a labyrinth of snow trails.
A foot of snow isn't really all that much, but living on a cul de sac there aren't very many places to put it after it is shoveled off and we end up with snow mountains. I love the snow mountains; they make me feel like there is more snow than there really is.
Snow enjoyment is not limited to human activity; Moose may not like the snow much, but Ollie is true snow dog. Jon likes to throw snowballs for him to chase, which he does with much more enthusiasm than he has ever chased a tennis ball.
Snow angels in the embankment—much easier than on the ground. When I was little we had to get down on all fours, then flip over, getting snow up our sleaves, in our coats, and down our boots, in order to make the perfect angel, which we only did in order to take a rest on our two mile uphill walk to school, a trek we had to make even in the deepest snow storms you've ever seen. Really.
He's not buying it.
Obviously we didn't mind the shoveling. In fact, we enjoyed it so much it we did it twice—once in the morning and once in the afternoon (it was easier that way)—and the second time we also shoveled our neighbors' acreage. Sometimes having anything to do is a good thing, especially when it's something fun that is followed by hot chocolate.
Friday, February 4, 2011
