Snow

So.  It has begun. 

I don't generally watch the news here.  Prime time starts at 7 here and that means the news is at 10 and since I don't usually settle down to watch TV until 9 or so, I tend to watch the recorded stuff and head to bed.  Sunday, for some reason I was able to catch the weather and so was witness to the announcement that snow showers were possible on Monday.  Just a skiff on the lawns, he said.  A few inches in the mountains, he said.

Stupid, incompetent Idaho weatherman.

There is five inches of snow on my lawn right now.

I shouldn't complain, this is the good kind of snow.  Did you know there is a difference?  This is the wet, heavy snow, perfect for snow forts and snowball fights.  The kind that sticks to your lawn and leaves the streets out of it.  The kids were thrilled and spent the whole afternoon out running through the white stuff, setting up forts and carrying out wars with the neighbors.  They returned to the homestead at dusk with red, runny noses and numb toes and grins that split their faces. 

I, on the other hand, suspect I might be suffering from PTSD.  Can you have snow related post traumatic stress?   Cause I swear I'm having childhood flashbacks involving cold feet and runny noses and walking to school in below freezing temps, because if your mom grows up on a farm in Idaho anything above 0 degrees is manageable.  Anyhow, after the kids came in and warmed up we decided to hit a movie for Family Night.  Later that night, when we left the theater, it was dark and another inch or so had fallen.  I took one look and I climbed into the van and told the boys to sweep off the windows.  Yes, I am that kind of mom.  So I'm in the car and my teeth start to chatter.  Not the little shiver kind, but the break your teeth, sore jaw kind of chatter.  Then, and only if you have experienced places like this in the winter will you understand this phenomenon , but the muscles in my thighs and lower back start to seize up.  Now this little ailment can only be solved by concentrated breathing and and finding a meditative zen, which is super hard to do while your swallowing bits of your own teeth, but I'm managing.  (How is it, as mankind, we have managed to build a super collider that can create a black hole and destroy the earth and still do not have a way to produce instant heat in a car?)  Of course, then the boys finish up sweeping the windows and get back in the car, which lets another blast of cold air into the van, so I'm back to square one with the zen. 

So anyway, now I'm driving on the snow swept streets of Idaho Falls, doing Lamaze breathing, and I'm trying to figure out how to not have to leave my house again until May.  Then I take a look around, and...It.  Is.  GORGEOUS.   Like something out of a Christmas card.  Sound also gets muffled in the snow, so even on the busiest streets there is a calm that is hard to describe.  It really is just another world.  We drive up to our house and the porch lights are reflecting off the untouched snow in the front yard and shining on the bare branches of the birch trees.  I want to race inside and and set up my Christmas tree and bake gingerbread.  It helps me remember how much I love this and how happy I am to be here.  I guess that's a good thing.

Two things I learned during our first snowstorm:

1.  My 12 lb., three legged, poodle mutt is, apparently, part husky.  He loves the snow.  LOVES it.

2.  When your husband is out of town and the snow has knocked out your Dish signal, your 5'11" son, armed with a broom, a lawn chair and a squirt bottle filled with hot water makes a pretty entertaining substitute.