Sunday morning we woke up to gray skies and colder temperatures, but no snow. Our morning routine went unchanged and at 11:00 am Mother picked up her purse and keys and prepared to take Gretchen to work at the Hospital. What...What is that we see as they prepare to go outside? Snow...big fat wet flakes coming down fast! I knew the ground was warm and guessed that the snow would not really stick but would melt. The first photo is looking toward the Garden area, see how big the flakes are and how fast they are coming down!
By the time Mother got back from taking Gretchen to work, the ground was covered! How beautiful it was! We don’t often get snow where I live and how grateful I was that it was snow instead of ice. Temperatures continued to fall and the Cottage felt cold despite the central heating. So Mother and I retreated to the living room and I built a fire in the fireplace. I stocked up the wood supply inside and filled the kindling basket. We pulled the blinds up all the way so we could see outside and enjoy the snow falling.
By 2:00 in the afternoon it was a wonderland. The middle school aged children across the street were having a delightful time running and shouting to each other. I knew they must be nearly frozen playing out for so long, but they were having too much fun to retreat into the warmth of their homes. Mother and I had warm cocoa by the fire and relished the peace of viewing the mantle of white everywhere. It is as if Nature covers up all the ugliness and pain of the world and all is pristine again.
As it neared the time to pick Gretchen up the roads were full of slush and I wouldn’t think of letting Mother drive; in truth I was scared myself. I had hoped that security or maintenance at the Hospital would volunteer to bring Gretchen home, as in days past when I worked at the Hospital, but no such luck. Bundled up I headed out to fetch her. I must have rarely got over 30 miles an hour and allowed plenty of time for slowing down and stopping. Thankfully I made it there and back home safely without incident.
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