Life in the Slow Lane

SOS left before seven this morning to catch a flight to San Diego. When he left, it was snowing. It would have been helpful to know this before I got the kids out of the house for church. Let's just say I overestimated the certainty of spring arriving this week. The good news, though, is that when we came out of church with insufficient outerwear, the precipitation that met us was merely rain and not snow.

How can I so easily forget how to dress sufficiently warmly for a bike ride? I did not turn into an icicle during my ride, but that does not mean that nothing else did. I keep telling myself that this is the week. A year ago, SOS came for a view weekend. He said that when he showed up it still looked very much like winter. By the time he left, however, the trees had a sheen of green. This is the week, Wisconsin. Do you hear?

This morning I took the kids out to the car without grabbing a hat or jacket for BabyMyBoy. I debated whether it was cold enough that I should run back in for them. Eventually, the fear of being chided out in public for having a freezing baby motivated me to climb our stairs and hunt them down. I'm so glad I did because the weather got colder and colder. By noon, when I came out of the grocery store, it was snowing and the wind was creating swirls of snow across the parking lot. And I said, "Self, remember when the trees blossomed in California and there were millions of tiny white flowers that the wind would blow off the trees and across the roads in great swirls of white? Remember what that used to look like and you would study the white petals extra closely to make sure it wasn't actually snow? Well, I don't think you will get that confused any more." On the way home, we drove by a house just around the corner from our apartment that is for sale. I w

Snow again, snow again. Jiggity Jig.

Today I nearly drove off the road. Why? Because I saw color. Flowers, Gentle Readers. Like spring flowers. Don't get up your hopes too terribly much, though, about this (finally) being the end of these winter posts. We're expecting snow later today and again later this week.

I voted today. But only because it was above freezing... barely. Any colder and I would have skipped my civic duty.  Yes, I'm near-sighted. If it had been much colder I would have sacrificed the long-term good of political participation for the sake of keeping this particular representative of the next generation warm. #SorryI'mNotSorry

Again it's snowing. Okay, so maybe most people wouldn't notice. But white stuff is falling from the sky. Sometimes a flake or two will disappear mid-air, but far more make it all the way down. Yesterday it was 65 degrees and sunny. Kite-flying weather, in fact, and we did just that. Today is a different story. Which brings me to a confession of sorts... I have never idled my vehicle as much as I have this winter. There were the days when I dared not bring the kids to the car until it had warmed up, the days when I dared not move the car until the engine tasted heat, and (now the confession) the days like today where the glorious magic of sleeping children in their car seats urges me to stay in the car long after we arrive at our destination. Normally, I would just kill the engine. But that just isn't a wise idea when snowflakes have to think a minute before they melt on a windshield. Now my defense: We're only driving an average of 50 to 100 miles a week

I never knew spring was such hard work. Today we woke up to an inch of snow on the ground. By ten o'clock it had done a masterful job of melting and then it started snowing again.  Lazy snow. Sunny. Horizontal snow. Fat snowflakes and teeny snowflakes. Almost sunny. Blizzard conditions. Sunny but windy. More snow. And repeat. Tomorrow it is supposed to be in the 60s... and then back to the 40s. Maybe we ought to bring out a cheering section. Come on, Spring! You can do it! Put a little oomph in to it!

Of course it is April Fools' Day. Why else would it be hailing just as SOS leaves for school? It was sunny and beautiful up until he put on his backpack.