What to do on a Snow Day #1-10

1) Bake Bread – there is nothing better than a house warmed with the heat (and smell) of baking bread. Eating it feels pretty decadent too.

2) Clean the walk as soon as reliably possible. My husband did that. As soon as it is apparent that any future snow is going to melt it is a smart idea to give yourself a clear walk because once you start walking on the snow you are going to make more problems for yourself. And I’m sure the mailman appreciates it.

3) Build a fire in the fireplace. Nothing better than a nice flame and looking out the windows at white snow.

4) Bring in extra wood for the fire so it will be ‘dry’ when it is needed.

5) Crochet (or knit) in front of the above fire.

6) Eat a slice of bread the bread you baked, or two, or three while you knit/crochet.

7) Look out the window and appreciate that you have no reason to go out and skate around other drivers.

8) Make certain the feeders are full and count how many different birds show up. House finch, gold finch, sparrow (not certain type, but not the house type), cardinals(male and female), juncos by the scores, woodpecker(downy?), wren, titmouse, chickadee(s), and one (count it only 1!) squirrel.

9) Watch the dog nosing the snow piles for the scent of squirrels. (At least I think that is what she is trying to smell.)

10) Repeat any of the above as necessary.

I do get SADS(Seasonal Affective Disorder) with the dark months of winter. I’m looking at you January and February. But when there is a fresh snow, and we have snow infrequently, I can get behind the idea of a warm, cosy chair, doing handwork, and eating fresh baked bread in front of ‘a cheerful’ fire.

All the above were always even sweeter when it was an unexpected day off from school, aka a “SNOW DAY!” But now being retired there is no getting up early to check the weather and the school closures to see if I can go back to bed.

I still wake early, because there is something special about the quality of light when there is snow on the ground and in the air. The reflection of the cloudy light off all the white surfaces seems to light up the windows like some scifi scene where the aliens have landed outside on your farm. I remember that distinctly from growing up in Northern Illinois and also the flash on the bedroom walls of the snowplows going down the road. We were one street over from a major highway. Or maybe it was aliens? No, the lights were always accompanied by the scrape of the blades on the highway. I can’t see aliens dragging bottom.

So I’m enjoying the snow day…if it remains more than a few days or turns into ankle twisting, iron-ridged heaps…all the love will be gone.

Two Posts today, because it was the writing prompt day and WE GOT SNOW! and I didn’t feel like pushing this post off until tomorrow.