Snow Days

It's snowing. Heavily. I spent so many years in education -- either as a student or as a teacher -- that having to work on a snow day seems fundamentally wrong on many levels. As the snow piles up on the window sills, my brain is thinking "Work? Why?"

Granted, I work from home, so it isn't as though I had to drive in to work in the bad conditions (or, you know, as though I EVER have to drive in to work) but ... still ...

When I was a kid, snow days meant that my sister and I would go outside and play (at least until I couldn't breathe and then had to go inside). Our house was heated with a woodstove, and when we came in from the cold, we would go into the basement and strip off the gear -- hat, snowpants, boots, etc -- beside the stove. I loved the way that the bits of snow that came off our outerwear would sizzle on the hot metal. (I did not like it when I got caught flicking snow onto the stove on PURPOSE, as it made my dad REALLY mad.) To this day, being outside in the snow makes me think of how cozy it was to be sitting in the warm orange light of that basement, in damp socks, with the smell of the wood and wool drying.

My sister would always want to make a fort out of blankets -- which we would do -- but she would also want to sleep in it. I would say that I was going to, but for some reason never did. I probably should have -- sorry, Pooks -- but the idea of sleeping in the blanket forts totally freaked me out. (Probably because they had a tendency to collapse on us, and the idea of one landing on me in the middle of the night seemed decidedly unpleasant.)

Snow days had their own menu -- they were nearly the only days I would ever drink hot chocolate. They required grilled cheese and tomato soup (perfect comfort food) OR kraft mac and cheese (also very cozy. However, not so nutrituous... and an unnatural shade of orange).  Lots of hot tea would be made and sipped. It was all about being happy and warm on a snow day.

I hope everyone stays happy and warm today!