It’s February and it’s snowing. That shouldn’t be much of a surprise, but it was over fifty degrees the last few days and I’d almost forgotten it was winter. It comes back quickly though, the realization of how inconvenient winter weather can be. The snow reminds me of all the errands I’d been meaning to do. Even though I’d managed to avoid doing them for quite some time, today was the day I would have gotten around to them, really, only now I can’t, because of the snow.
Snow also makes me hanker for food I don’t have in the house. I can’t quite put my finger on what, exactly, I want to eat, but I know I don’t have it, because that’s the nature of snow. Snow conjures images of hot cocoa with marshmallows; baked brie and apple slices; little baked puffs filled with the makings of pepperoni pizza. Yes! That’s what I need, the bite-sized pepperoni pizza-filled dough! Damn the snow. It’s probably been twenty years since I’ve had those. Today would have been the perfect day.
Today’s snow isn’t a blizzard, they’re not predicting more than eight inches or so, nothing our snow blower can’t handle, if only one of us was in good enough shape to use it. My husband tumbled off his bike a couple of weeks ago and is still bruised and dizzy. I’ve been ill and coughing so hard that I’ve pulled a muscle in my chest, which makes coughing even more painful. And to make matters worse, it’s not pretty, fluffy snow; it’s wet, heavy snow, the kind that threatens to turn into ice. The kind that makes me wonder if letter carriers get hazard pay. The kind that makes you check the batteries in your flashlights because it brings down power lines. Of course, if you need batteries, too bad, because you’re not going out.
I could go out, if I really wanted to. I’d leave the Prius tucked safely in the garage and take the Subaru Outback instead. The Subaru is bigger, heavier, rugged. It’s better in the snow, safer, which is to say, if someone slid into me I’d be less likely to be smooshed than I would in the Prius. Of course, there’s no guarantee that the Subaru could get up the hills to our neighborhood when it was time to come home. There’s a detour I could take, but I always optimistically start up the hill anyway. If the car refuses to climb, I have to back down again, holding my breath that I won’t meet another foolhardy individual on their way up.
It’s probably best not to take a car out today. I think we have batteries, and if we don’t, I can always crawl into bed. It’s never too early to go to sleep. Now if I can just keep my mind off pizza-flavored snack food I think I’ll be okay.
Everywhere I Go 