On Snow

Last night, as I was putting the house to bed, I looked out my back window and saw the blue moonlight on the snow. Some of the flakes were shining in a sugary sort of way. I wished I could also see the moon, but it was hiding over the house somewhere. If it had been a pretty summer night, I would have gone out on the deck to look for it, but as it was about ten degrees, I was not tempted. Well, not much.

Yes, we are on our second snow day from the recent winter snow dump. What an unattractive description! But, the shoe fits. Wednesday night it started. It was a very fast snow. Before bed I could already see plural inches of accumulation, and by morning, I couldn't find the step on my front porch. I measured it at about 8.5 inches. It snowed for several hours (and several inches) after that, too, but I didn't measure it again, and eventually the sun came out and melted the snow on the top a little. I would guess we averaged about 9 inches of snow from the one snowfall.

Missouri usually has sleet, instead. And if it were sleet, then that would have been rough! But snow...is easy to work with. We knew what to do. We knew it was coming. So, why weren't the plows out maintaining our roads and insuring us safe passage? This was my most aggravating complaint. Josh says that probably the snow removal budget was used up earlier this year on less significant snowstorms, so they waited for it to be done falling before they attempted a plow run. Considering the gas prices this week, I guess I can understand the concern. But I still think it wasn't worth making a snow day for schools and businesses alike. How expensive was that, do you think?

There were 7 inches in Westphalia, too, so my dad had a snow day, even though Rolla only got 3 inches. Bet that was fun. Dad hardly ever gets random days off. Josh didn't get a day off. In fact, he got called in early, to cover shifts for people who live 30+ minutes closer to his work. I told him to call when he got there, as he went out to excavate the truck. He forgot, though. I spent much of the afternoon in senseless worry until he remembered to call me.

Guess what the kids have been playing lately. Did you guess? Inspector Gadget! Hee hee. Josh showed them some of the first season. They love it. And so do I. Yesterday, Grant informed me that Dr. Claw had turned his Silly Bands into explosives. Go, go Gadget Straight Face!!!

I've been practicing Tenchi. I would not, by any stretch, call me a master.

The kids went to play in the snow, but didn't last more than 5 minutes. It's just very cold out there. I think snow angels were made, and a few trips down the back yard in the sled, and then enough was enough! I didn't go. I made fish and mac & cheese shells and green beans. And boiled water for Josh's tea. Instead of tea, I made some Emergen-C and thought of Amy. ^_^

Yesterday I saw a new film! It's Vietnamese, and the US. title is The Owl and the Sparrow. It's rated PG, but I wouldn't go so far as to call it a family film. The basic plot is that a small girl, who is an orphan living with her uncle, who considers her useless and has no tender feelings for her, runs away to the city and tries to survive on the streets. She makes two friends, a lovely flight attendant who is having trouble coping with her inner feelings about the fact that her lover is married, and a shy zookeeper who is suffering from double heartbreak, as his fiance dumped him right before the zoo decided to sell his favorite baby elephant. The little girl decides that they'd make a good couple, and attempts to hook them up, while hiding from the authorities, as well as her uncle's grumpy attempts to recover her. It's not an exciting movie, and not really a cheerful one, but the acting is very good, and the camera work fascinating. I liked it, even though it was somber. I would recommend it for young adults and adults.

I hope you are all warm and comfortable. I plan to watch movies with the kids under my fancy electric blanket later.