random thoughts – Day 1,391 – (Sunday) – snow day

It was a winter wonderland this morning and felt like being in a snow globe. If not for the snowstorm, it would have been the first class of the winter session for belly dance. The big snow day resulted in a delay until next week, which is probably good from the perspective of my jacked-up back.

How does this not fall?

Instead of tying on a jingly coin belt and perfecting the isolation of hips and ribs for shimmies and slides and figure eights, ski pants and snow boots were slipped on. The trusty snow shovel was engaged to toss and push and scrape snow from the front and back steps and walkway. The car was dug out. 

With no dogs, there is no need to shovel paths through the yards, so that saves time. There is also no need for a yard, so there is a lot of wondering "why, why?" which is followed immediately by thoughts of "where would I go?" Deep thoughts for another day. There was snow to be moved. 

There was a brief chat with the guy next door who now has a snow blower, and as he cleared his family’s side of the shared driveway, he offered to clear my side, too. That was a gratefully accepted offer.

The act of rearranging the snow wasn’t painful, but walking back into the house and then around the house certainly was. This getting old and falling apart crap is no joke. When I was 20 and thought 30 was old, and would hear older people (50? 60?) talking about their aches and pains, I’d be rolling my eyes and thinking in the most mocking of ways, “Oh my back. Oh my knees. Just shut up already.” Yeah. Well, now I get it as I enjoy the everchanging ailment of the day and spewing the very words I would mock. Life is funny like that.

Mac and cheese lunch.

After the shoveling, the kitchen got some quality time and the mac and cheese postponed on Saturday happened. It was fun watching the snow fall outside the kitchen window as macaroni cooked and cheese was grated. There was stirring of butter and flour and the addition of milk and then the cheese. After 30 minutes in the oven, lunch was served and it was good. There were leftover veggies from Saturday’s supper that were the perfect complement to the mac and cheese. 

It snowed all day and into the night. Snow piled on the deck and stair rails in impossibly high stacks. The fence posts sported giant puffs of snow that look like the big furry Russian hats. With the snow everywhere, and the row of puffy topped fenceposts, it felt like a scene from Doctor Zhivago. 

Snow puff fence posts.

Much of the afternoon was occupied with ice packs and reading. No TV. Minimal social media. A break was taken from the book (Good Taste, by Caroline Scott) to take down the Christmas tree, which involved several very careful trips downstairs to the basement. Now the living room feels a little empty. Unfortunately, the dining room table still has a lot of Christmas tossed about and looks like a tornado hit it.

By 7:00, all the shoveling and snow blowing done at 10:00 was completely snowed under again, like the work never even happened. The enchanting snow globe effect had lost its charm. Now it was just another big bunch of work.

The snow pants, coat, and boots were put back on and the morning exercise was repeated, but with more pain. By the time the front and back steps were cleared and the car was dug out, the lower back was screaming. Back inside and liberated of the outerwear, each one of the 16 steps from the couch to the freezer for the ice pack was agony, but sitting with it against my back certainly felt better. I never thought sitting with an ice pack would be something to look forward to, but here I am.