The snow they predicted for days came on schedule yesterday (“between 1:00 and 6:00 pm, 1-3 inches.”). Looks like we got 1-2 inches. My phone says it’s 16 degrees outside.
I need a giant black Sharpie so I can climb out my window onto the porch roof and write on the white surface like a little kid with a crayon would write on a bare wall:
ROBIN WAS HERE.
(I live in the middle of North Carolina in the South of the US. We don’t get much snow. 1-3 inches is kind of a big deal. 16 degrees is really cold. I have a nice-looking wool coat and several scarves, but I don’t own a good pair of gloves or functional boots. Laugh if you want.)
Every morning, in my quiet time, I look out the double window in my office over the screened-in porch’s roof at the backyard of our house. This morning at 7:23, I saw clean, white snow on top of all the stuff–balls, dog poop on its mulch pile, 3 durable fake-wicker chairs, the weathered old picnic table, the Little Tikes First Slide and the blue swing hanging from a tree branch.
I saw me with the Sharpie on the porch roof. I’d go out on impulse in my pj’s that have been washed so many times they are soft like expensive baby clothes. The 16 degree cold would push me to hurry. Would I change out of my warm, cream-colored thick cotton socks that look like they came from Finland? Or would I just jump out and do it?
How would I climb up and out? Would I even know how to move the screen of the triple-paned window out of the way? What if I slid off? The snow on the frozen ground wouldn’t be enough to cushion my fall. We know a guy who fell off a ladder while cleaning his gutters and got badly hurt. What if I dropped the Sharpie? And who would even see what I wrote?
I’m good at over-thinking things and not so good at spontaneity. Maybe not a bad way to be in the long run, but I think I’ve probably missed out on a lot of fun.
Besides, Sharpies of any size won’t write on snow. And I’m afraid of falling and my bones that are approaching osteoporosis could break into a bunch of jagged pieces.
Maybe I’ll try for a snow angel–in the yard–later, after I put on the proper clothes and a hat. I hope the retired man I live with will help me get up. We could be in trouble if we both lie down in the snow at the same time.
Amma Ponders 
I say go for the snow angel Robin, just watch out for the dog poop.
Right. And Mike asked me to please not go on the roof.
Spontaneity vs missing fun. Hmmm, that’s a hard one because for us overthinkers spontaneity can also create anxiety. Maybe some deep breathing along the way! Snow angels are good, too! PS – Did you that if you put food coloring in cold water that you can spray designs on the snow? Maybe some kind of adaptation of this for writing on the snow!
I love the food coloring spray idea! I’ll pass that on to the parents of my grandchildren. Thanks!
And thanks for reading, too.
I am south of you–northern Florida–we had a few “moments” of sleet (or snow depending upon who is reporting) but it remains cold. Having left the Rocky Mountain West for the South, I was not elated, although I could appreciate that it had been 25 years since such there had been glimpse of sleet/snow. Hope you tried for the snow angel. Let us know.
Karen
Never did the snow angel. That would have required getting dressed and going out in the cold!
We seldom get any snow, so I am enjoying everyone’s snow reports and living vicariously while staying nice and toasty.
No one in the South has gloves unless they are attached to hoe or a shovel. Pockets are always with you, and usually have last winters’ bugger vault that has been composting like a mummy since then. Spring is in the air (or is it drone?). Hibernate
!!
One thing about NC weather. It doesn’t stay the same more than a day or 2! Thanks for reading.
It’s 46 and sunny here now. I’ll take that!
My aunt in Iowa hasn’t been even close to freezing, in the daytime, in weeks. That’s not fun.