Saturday, February 13, 2010

Day 34 - Memories of Snows Past

The snow was beautiful this morning. The bright sun shimmering through the trees in the back yard made everything feel surreal. The birds flocked to the feeder to get some needed sunflower seeds. I know that they were having a hard time finding anything else. As the day went on the roads begin to melt, , but the back yard stayed pretty most of the day. Because of the trees, there was not as much melting as in other yards.

Snow was always a big deal at our house when the girls were growing up. I remember Julia and I spending what seemed like hours to get everybody ready. First we had to find enough winter clothes to put on them. The problem was always trying to find something waterproof. If the gloves or mittens got wet, the girls would get cold and want to go inside. This was one of the times I realized girls were not like boys. They wouldn’t stay outside all day with wet feet, or wet hands. They wanted comfort. I didn’t understand this, but Julia did, and she would go to great lengths to try and find something to protect them. Needless to say, they normally were able to stay out no more than 15 – 20 minutes. Then it was back inside to a warm fire, dry off, change clothes and then back outside. In one afternoon we might change the girls clothes three or four times. We would spend hours getting them ready for minutes playing in the snow. But it was fun, fun for all of us. Julia and I would help try and build a snowman, sometimes mud men. We would have hot soup or chili and hot chocolate. We live in the woods, and we would take walks in the woods. The scenery completely changed when it snowed. It was always so beautiful. We always had a dog, and it was fun to watch our dogs play in the snow.

So as I looked at the snow this morning, these and more memories sort of lingered in my mind. But I was alone and it was great to look out through the window. It was also great not to have to go outside in the cold. Although if any of my granddaughters had been here I would have been outside in a heartbeat.

Since we had to cancel the Healing ministry training today, I had all day off. So I finally had to do the one thing I have been putting off. I had to clean the house. I washed my sheets yesterday, so today it was clean the bathroom and vacuum the house. It really wasn’t that hard, it’s just I’m not used to doing it. But once I got started, it wasn’t that bad. I needed to finish the task because I work for the next three days and then I go to Mobile to see Lisa, Anna and Julia.

I had a good time at dinner with the Steeds and Oswalts. We shared stories about earlier years, and I remembered more about our early days. I’m glad the roads have dried out. I know that tomorrow when I leave I will still have to be careful of some black ice, but at least the roads are mainly clear. I guess I will spend the rest of the night by the fire watching the winter Olympics. I think we had more snow than Vancouver had. I love the snow, but I hope that this is all we have for the year.

3 comments:

  1. It's good to know you're ok alone. sometimes, I think others have a harder time with you being alone than you have being alone. I know i do. thanks for sharing -- it's really good for the rest of us to know where you are - we are so proud of you. I know Julia is, too.

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  2. Loved this post! Lots of good memories with kids just like ours. Lots of work for just a few minutes of glory! However I think our boys stayed out in the snow longer than your girls but oh, my! the wet clothes!!
    Anthony and I have prayed for you today being Valentine's Day and knowing you are missing your Valentine!!! We miss her so much too! OUr love and prayers are with you!!!!
    Love!!!!

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  3. good post, Tom. glad you got a jump start on Spring cleaning. we are doing that this week too.

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