Saturday, February 14, 2015

The weather outside is frightful....

   As I write this, swathed in sweatshirt, sweatpants, fluffy socks, fuzzy bathrobe, and a knitted afghan over it all, we in the Upper Peninsula are enduring one of the roughest winter days of this season. It's a blizzard out there: 35 mph winds, -35 wind chill. The heavy clouds are sifting a steady falling of dry, floury snow. It's a notable day when the postal service knuckles under and announces there will be no mail delivery in your city today. Events were cancelled; everything from high school sports to church dinners to bingo. Local police are advising people to stay off the roads and the snowmobile trails. Last I heard, the U.P. is currently in a state of civil emergency. Civil emergency! What does that even mean?
   For me, it means stay put, relax, have another cup of coffee and see who's doing what on Facebook. Hardier souls than I are braving the blasting wind and icy temps, venturing out to the events that haven't been cancelled. More power to them. I will stay in my warm, albeit drafty house, with my two-legged best friend/Valentine and the motley four-legged crew. We are all in neutral gear, dozing, eating, reading. Sadie cat has had gotten the most exercise of us all today, chasing a small ball of tinfoil that I rolled down the hall for her. She loves chasing tinfoil balls, but she will not touch them. She galumphed down the hall (she is a rather large cat), cornered the ball, then sat beside it expectantly, waiting for me to come and get it and roll it back again. I call this game Bowling for Sadie.
   A snowstorm produces its own particular kind of silence. There are fewer cars going by, of course, but the sounds of the few that pass are muffled by the snow-covered streets and the high banks. There are no human or animal voices to be heard. Each house is its own island, private, tucked in tight.
   I ventured outdoors twice today, to take the dogs out. They went in the morning and again this early evening. Normally they would have become restless in the mid-afternoon, pacing by the back door, but they seem to understand that today is a day for semi-hibernation. When I took them for their second round, Saira beagle was wild with joy - so much new snow to sniff, to burrow her head in, to dig into for treasure! Indy, my schnauzer, shared my sentiment: Let's just get this over with and get back inside, OK?
   I am not a winter person. I don't skate, ski, snowshoe, or hike along snowy trails. Winter has its beauty and its pleasures, but for the most part, for me it's a season to muscle through on the way to next spring. But I've got to hand it to Mother Nature. Just when you've had about enough of scraping ice off your windshield and putting on a brave face to meet another frosty day, she says, No, you aren't going anywhere today. Settle in. Stay warm. Make popcorn with extra butter. Crack open a good book and relax. For one glorious day, your world is on hold.
   Come to think of it, I may be more of a winter person than I thought.

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