Hang on - let me back up - did I say WARM? No. It was anything but warm. Somehow we managed to choose a few really cold days to arrive; not to mention - it snowed the entire time. Goodbye to my carefully planned hairdo and frilly little travel suit. Goodbye to our planned expedition to Hilltop, Beatrix Potter's farm.
Hello to massive cardigans and endless cups of tea. We turned up the radiators in our hotel room (inside an old farmhouse) and planted our bottoms on them - that was, when we didn't go to sit in an old stone church for services - and those churches, while lovely, are not known for their heating prowess.
We flew back, and what do I see this morning? More snow. As my fellow author Ross Kitson said, it looks like Narnia outside my window.
A few words about snow:
1. When my husband and I were trying to get pregnant, we froze some eggs and went on with IVF. Two tries and several disappointments in, I got the last batch implanted and went home. A few days later I dreamt of snow, and I woke up KNOWING I was pregnant. Nine months later.... along came a little girl who just happens to love ice and snow.
2. When I was in my thirties, my husband taught me to ski. Like Hemingway, I took to it right away. I'll never be a good skier - much the opposite - but I love skimming down snow-covered hills (Blue hills, thank you, NOT Black Diamonds.)
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| image courtesy of benchandloom.com |
3. The first chapter of Finn Family Moomintroll is about the Moomins all getting ready for a long winter's sleep. They eat their feast of pine needles, crawl into bed, and their house is slowly covered with white. I've always loved that chapter.
4. The snowflakes out my window are large and fast. The ground is covered already. I fully expect to get a call from the school sending the children home early - will check back in to let you know if Bub arrived back in the bus. Which means wet snow clothes and snow boots are in my future, instead of that desperately-needed grocery run. Ah, well.
5. No, seriously - it's turning into a thick blizzard. Hm.
2 comments:
I loved this post! I saw that no one else commented yet and thought--maybe everyone is really sick of snow. We got the snowstorm the night before last. Driving to work was astounding! In an odd twists, I needed to be there before daylight. The effect of the heavy snow on each and every branch of each and every tree was magical. It was like I was driving through tunnels in a fairyland forest. Took my breath away.
I'll be all kinds of excited and happy when it gets warm and the daffodils bloom--and maybe, just maybe, the peepers sing. But, like some famous poet or the other ;-) I'm thinking that the cherry trees are beautiful covered in snow, too.
Wonderful post, Alison. :-)
Hi Allie,
Sorry to hear about your father.
Glad you are home safely, to more snow. Same here. I am like--totally. over. it. Isn't it lovely to hear everyone else talk of spring?
(Grrrrr.)
~Just Jill
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