This week we've had a lot of snow.  Yesterday, it was the kind of snow that soaks you from head to toe in a matter of minutes.  It's the kind of snowstorm I remember as a kid - three feet of snow in the yard and drifts as tall as your head.  The kind where I imagined that when I went to get the mail we should tie a rope around my waist, the other end on the house just in case I couldn't find my way back, just like Pa Ingalls had to do that time when the snow was as high as Half Pint's loft window and he had to get to the barn.  It was awesome, and our yard is totally like that.  But we don't have a barn, or a loft, and also we have a snowblower so we'll probably be able to do without the rope survival strategy.

We spent some time outside, staying out for less than an hour each time.  It was cold and we were sideswiped with snow, but it was fun.  Martin got into the Little House spirit, falling over and saying "I'm stuck, I'll never get out" in a dramatic yet yearning sort of way.  I showed him how to make a fake step at the end of a real one so that people would be tricked and fall when they approached the door.  Because I'm that kind of mother.  He thought it was terrific, tried it out and laughed when he fell into his own trap.

I thought of my parents many times.  Thinking back to my dad showing us how to build a snow tunnel and letting us go in it, without thoughts of collapse or danger (and we were fine).  I thought of my mom when I looked over at Martin and Sophie and they clearly needed scarves, knowing that if my mother was here only their tiny eyes would have been exposed to the elements.  Seeing the drifts of snow hanging off our roof like a pending avalanche, I remembered the time my dad shoveled off the roof, fell off and landed on the snowblower parked on the sidewalk below.  Dad came in the house, moaning and holding his side, and we just laughed.  Because we are that kind of family.


I took this picture yesterday at about 6:00PM.  I think we've gotten another 4-5 inches of snow since then and it's still coming down.  We'll do some more shoveling, sliding, snow throwing and path making.  If we're lucky, maybe we'll be able to venture outside of our yard.