Snow on Snow on Snow

The blizzard of 2010 has finally reached our doorstep. We waited all day for it, hesitant to leave the hill, recalibrating travel plans as airports shut down and roads were closed in the cities, telling the kids that tomorrow the sledding would be epic. The fields and sky were slate-grey, the temperature dropped and the cloud blanked sky kept promising snow...and holding out....and promising....and holding out....Until finally, after the dinner dishes were put away, fat white feathers began to sift down from the night sky. And I have to say, if we're going to be snowed in somewhere, this is a pretty good place to be.

 

The temperature is inching down the thermometer. It's very, very cozy here and maybe just maybe a little bit claustrophobic. In such close quarters,  completely sequestered from the rest of the world, everyone has become very particular about such things as their new Christmas presents.  Everything will be humming along fine and then someone will put their feet into a new pair of sheepskin slippers, prompting a howl from across the room: "ARE YOU WEARING MY NEW SLIPPERS? TAKE! THOSE! OFF! NOW!" And then the offender will take a lap around the room and shout back:" NO! LAY OFF! ITS NOT LIKE I'M GOING TO BREAK THEM!" Which is met with "YOU WON'T BREAK THEM YOU'LL JUST MAKE THEM DISGUSTING!" Meanwhile, dinner continues and nobody else pays attention until someone reaches a hand to touch their new thing. But above all, it's nice and cozy. We're like mice up here, tucked away in a little house. And the daily hikes we take around the property do help to chill everyone out. 

It's amazing that I'm here during this storm. I'm not stranded in an airport or a train station or the side of a road or the house of a friend whose company I find annoying. Thousands of flights are canceled to and from the North East, JFK airport and Amtrak shut down completely, and Maine and Massachusetts went ahead and declared a state of emergency. And we're here. I'm almost choking on my good luck. Not to rub it in to my friends in transit (sorry, Zach, Fozz, should have stayed on the hill!) but it doesn't feel too much like an emergency here in Vermont. Of course, I could be eating my words very shortly. We shall see. But for now...

Dude, do you see my dog in this photo? Amazing.

I just got up to feed the stove one last time before I go to bed. I'm always the last one up. We were out of wood so I went to the barn to get some more, and when I opened the door I was confronted by a chaos of huge snowflakes. It's 1 degree out, the snappy sort of cold that goes right up your nose. Someone else can wake up early to keep the stove going and I'm going to sleep in till eleven, when my Cousin Margaret is coming down from the upper house to make candy. We made marshmallows today by hand which have to sit over night, and tomorrow we're going to cover them with caramel. MAYBE. IF THE SNOW FLAKES DO NOT KILL US TONIGHT THAT IS.

 

And because I never get to put pictures of kids on this blog, and seriously some blogs out there are only pictures of kids, they are not very good or interesting. But I'm entitled to a few pictures of a few kids, right? And really, these kids are top-notch.

And speaking of top notch....

I'm quite fond of this series, me dropping some life knowledge on the boys, something that is obviously just intensely hilarious. Although Brooks was apparently asleep. 

 

I love how we all look related in this photo

 Alright, going to sleep with high hopes of a snow monstrosity. I do look forward to getting back to Seattle and resuming life and getting back to the climbing gym. I really do. But if we are forced to stay in Vermont for a little longer, that's okay too. I'm halfway through the latest Krakaur book and I'm in no hurry to leave.