Monday, January 31, 2011

Here We Go! Waiting on Snow!




My fight or flight meter is raging. My heart pounds like a tympani, and my mind whirls. Why? Because there is a blizzard a coming! I always loved the thoughts of gathering around the hearth like Laura in Little House on the Prairie, making popcorn over an open flame while wrapping up in a grandma’s quilt. Snow days home from school were prizes to be won even when I was a mother with children. When I taught, wow, I loved the gift of a snow day! When flakes would first start in the afternoon, the two storied school building nearly titled with students racing to the windows. I, their teacher, beat them there!



I took this new storm warning with a grain of salt. So many storms here this winter have spilt and gone around us, leaving us with cold temps and snow but nothing deep. Local forecasters were vague and fluctuating about what we would get here, although the forecast for north and east of us sounded dire.


This morning I got up and made tea, read a chapter, exercised, and then heard the TV say that our area was in the bull’s eye of the storm. Oh, that sounded bad. Even with out the falling stuff, the temps are to be -5 with wind chills down to -20. Yikes! They got my attention!


I was not in major need, but I decided to get out while I could. I stopped for gas, got cash at the bank, took a load to the post office, and stopped at the grocery store. People were on the move and my sense of hustle and hurry increased. While picking up my few things, I began to toss in extras. Ham for bean soup would be warming, and a new cracker looked good. Cabbage for soup, oh and some fat baking potatoes, the red jelled candy hearts looked cheery, and cheese and crackers for tea time. Better throw in some extra butter for a batch of cookies for a treat. Potato chips were on sale, a real no-no, but DH loved them so. Ah, my carb survival switch had been activated.


The drizzle began while I was in the store. Coming out to the moisture just made the forecast seem very real. I was glad to think one of the fire trucks was on its way to Kentucky, a copy of Rosebud was headed to Kansas City, copies of stories were on the way to St. Louis, and a book for a nursing home bound mother in law was making it way to Kansas. I knew all these places were in line for the same storm…maybe everything would be a nice perk to the snowbound at the other end.


The fire trucks were last week’s find. I had a doctor’s appointment, and though I have tried to not shop for anything anywhere during January, I drove right by Goodwill. The car just nosed itself into the lot making me check for tea cups! No cups but these two fire trucks were perfect for $2.50. All they needed were batteries. The one has a wailing siren. The other is a flashlight. When the child pushes the button the headlight of the truck lights up, but it won’t stay on without a finger. I sent the flashlight one since a wailing siren in the hands of a two year during winter might put Grammie in some real trouble!


So here we go…I hope I can have a reading and writing marathon this week. We will see!


WELCOME: I see I have three new followers, a nice pre- snowstorm pleasure! Welcome to Sara Katt, K-9 friend, and Elysabeth42. Glad you are here. Thanks for checking in and deciding to stay a while.

4 comments:

BECKY said...

Claudia, I always love your posts because you make me feel like I'm right there with you. I rode along in the car with you, browsed in Goodwill and I'm the one who, when we were in the grocery store, threw that package of cinnamon rolls into your cart! :) Enjoy your day(s) of this winter storm. I'll be thinking of you!

Donna Volkenannt said...

Hey Claudia,
I'm fighting the battle of the carbs, too. Love the fire trucks. Too cute.
We're fixing to get a monster storm with lots of ice, snow and cold temps here, too. Both grandkiddos got off from school early today, and probably will be off Tues and Wed. We brought extra food and have some wood for the fireplace in case power goes out. I hope to get some writing done--some reading, too.
Donna V.
http://donnasbookpub.blogspot.com

Lisa Ricard Claro said...

Hi Claudia - We've got only rain and more rain here in the deep South. We had that one big snowstorm a couple weeks ago and now everything has melted. We'll see if we can get to spring without more white stuff. Stay warm and cozied up indoors!

BECKY said...

Hey Claudia, just wanted to mention that I sent you a long e-mail on the 27th, and a short one yesterday, the 31st. Thought I'd tell you here, because you said my e-mails keeping falling into your spam folder for some reason!