First Snow

Dance a little jig! We just had 1st snow yesterday. I will never get tired of snowy winters. Never. I will never be like every other person in the rest of civilized White Christmas country and say, "Oh. Yeah, it's snowing. Pass the potatoes." Or worse, "Oh, damn, it's snowing. I hate it when it snows. Pass the potatoes." I will always get a sappy grin on my pus and stare out the window in true distracted former Portland school girl fashion until said snow stops falling. This is what happens when you spend your school years in a snow-impaired city where less than an inch of the lovely white stuff is enough to close the whole metro-area down. A city where some years it didn't even snow at all. Just rained for months on end with the lows at 35 degrees except for some days when the wind was from the east and the 20 degree days were sunny and dry. So cruel. Winters spent on end glaring at the thermometer with but one thought: If it were 2 degrees colder, it would be snowing buckets. Two. Stinkin'. Degrees.

But sometimes the temperature and precipitation would mis-step and one would catch the other by the tail and we would get that inch or 2, sometimes even more. And the news would come on the radio that the schools were all closed! Such rejoicing! Yes, go ahead and laugh. Yes, laugh all the way to the bus stop while we were home trying to make wee snow people and have snowball fights with recycled snowballs (not enough snow for fresh ones each toss, you see). But we were home. As in not at school. And so I still get all giggly with each snow fall, at least until April, but that is another story.

So we finally, after several false forecasts over the past several weeks, had snow. And what did we do? Well we dashed outside and started putting up Christmas lights, for what is 1st snow without lights? And then we went inside and had much wine and pasta dinner. And more wine. For what is snow and Christmas lights and very cold fingers and all without much wine? When all was said and done, none of the snow actually stuck and all is clear and bare today, but that doesn't matter. After breakfast, we will get all bundled up and go out in the lovely sunny day and put up all the rest of the lights so as to be ready for the 1st real snow, the one that sticks.

Giggle, giggle, jig, jig. And pass the potatoes.