Snow Day (Part 2)

I was hit in the face with a cold wave of shock when I clicked on my blog yesterday and realized I never shared Snow Day: Part 2 as promised. Because I could have sworn I did that.

This pregnancy (and the all-too-real dreams I can't shake) is eating away my sanity.

So here's the deal. Last week, as I explained in Snow Day: Part 1, we were hit with our first real winter storm. (It's true that we had measurable snowfall in October, but that was freakish and weird. And wrong. So I'm not counting it.) It snowed for about 24 hours straight Tuesday through Wednesday. We were left with about eight inches of snow on the ground.

Here's the view from my place on Tuesday afternoon. (Please note how dark it is. The time stamp is 3:58.)

Here are the extra tree greens wrapped in lights (also described in Snow Day: Part 1) that made it onto my deck just before the snow started falling.

And here's a shot of my deck before sunset on Tuesday night.

It's useful for comparing to the shot the next morning. Here's how much snow we got.

(I love those huge piles of snow on my chairs and planters. It's like meringue for outdoor furniture.)

My deck looks much the same right now. Thursday, it got wickedly cold -- as in, our highs were around 8 and the wind chill was well below zero. (When we drove to school Thursday morning, in the bright and brittle sunshine, Connor was mesmerized by the thermometer in the van. He counted down every degree as we pulled from our heated garage into the cold. "Twenty-three! Fifteen! NINE! SIX!!! ZERO!!!!" It was at that point I wondered if a six-year-old boy's head could literally pop off from excitement.) So all that snow? It ain't going anywhere anytime soon. And we could get another coating of four inches by tomorrow morning.

But you know what? Right now, I'm OK with that. In fact, I'm more than OK with that. I'm thrilled by that. Because here in Minnesota, we do Christmas right. We rarely have to dream of a white Christmas; we just look at our window and enjoy God's creativity.

(I also feel compelled to point out that God himself decorates the North for Christmas each year. Not Martha Stewart, not a human designer. God. Thus, I'm led to believe that, while the South might love Jesus most, as Shaun Groves asserts, clearly Jesus chooses the North first every time.)

And our kids?

Our kids love the snow. Connor was out sledding on the pitiful little bump at the end of our street on Tuesday afternoon, before we even got anything.

To a child, this snow is just a git from God, a beautiful landscape in which to play, laugh, run and create.

When I see it through their eyes, winter is breath-taking. Truly.

Here's to more snow days*. I can't wait.

*This statement expires January 31, 2010. No reminders of such statement can be made after that time. No actual snow days are inferred in the creating of such statement, since Minnesota has an army of snowplows and doesn't cancel school for cold or snow. Ever. The term snow day is to be construed as an expression of freedom and fun only.