By Lonnie Cruse
Forty-nine out of fifty states had snow on the ground at the same time this year. My hubby says if a snow stays around on the ground, it's waiting for another one. Oh dear. Really? There is snow on our lawn from yesterday. Oh. No.
This has been a very cold winter (in case it somehow escaped your notice.) In February we traveled to Florida for a Bible lectureship in Temple Terrace. We avoided the worst of the snow. Yipieeeee! It was colder than usual, even way down there. Sigh.
One thing about a winter this cold, with this much snow, one (who has reached a certain age) tends to stay inside by the fire, reading. If one's neighbors are brave enough to venture to one's hill for sledding, one does not any longer put on one's warmer outer garments and venture up that hill with sled in hand. Rather, one leaps out onto one's front porch, camera in hand, at the ready, snaps pictures of the insanity, and leaps back inside where the hot chocolate is. I have no clue what that orange thingy is in the picture but the neighbors DID ride it down the hill. I did mention insanity, did I not? I missed getting a shot of the neighbor who slid (or attempted to) down the hill on a chair. Sigh.
One has plenty of books and hot chocolate on hand for such emergencies. One does not sweep porches or sidewalks. That's what husbands or neighbor's sons were born to do. Nor does one clean off the car. One pretends to have two broken hands. Trust me.
I find myself longing for the sight of the daffodils which herald true spring, even if they are surrounded by snow. I think longingly of our sun porch, fully closed in but with not enough heat out there at this time of year to make it worth my while to sneak out there to read. Sigh. BUT, the good thing about all this snow is that I'm able to find time to read. Time when I'd normally be outside doing yard work. Or running errands. Or chasing grandkids. Or just plain busy. Hmmm, what did the almanac say about our next snow?
I know most of the rest of you had it FAR worse than we did. Sandy and Liz, for example. Far worse. Probably weren't even able to find a decent hill to sled down, with all that snow? You're both welcome to use mine. I'll take the pictures.
Besides reading and hot chocolate, this winter was a good time for a huge pot of chilli, for gaining a few extra pounds, for watching TV, for snuggling with someone you love, for lots of things that don't take us outside into that mess. What's your favorite winter activity? Keep it clean!