Snow Days

Mandy’s out of town, leaving Bryan and I with quiet days home together on holiday break. On Christmas afternoon, it began to rain, and slowly the rain started freezing on the roof and on the bushes and on the trees. And on the street. And then it was ice. And little pine-tree branches fell on our house. And then it was snow. It snowed for hours, and when we woke up the next morning, we had more snow than I can remember seeing since I moved to central Arkansas.

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Like a little child, I put on my boots and my rain pants and I went outside. But like the grownup my father taught me to be, I shoveled our sidewalk and then our driveway, throwing the white stuff off into the yard, making strips of piles of snow alongside the pavement. I love snow. I love looking at snow, and playing in snow. I even love shoveling snow. I love every single thing there is to love about snow. Continue reading “Snow Days”

More Snow for Central Arkansas

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There’s been a lot of snow this winter.  We’ve had four or five snow days.  We could have braved the bad roads – they really do get awful here, with the lack of equipment and people to clear snow and ice – but why bother?  Mandy’s school was closed, and since Bryan and I both work for the state, we had days off work too.  We planned ahead, bought groceries and cozy socks, and just stayed home.

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Snow Day!

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It’s a snow day!  The snow began to fall in the middle of Sunday afternoon, and by dark we had six or eight inches of white powder.  I tried to take a silent bedtime walk in the quiet blanket of snow, but instead my walk because a sort of proving ground, a laughing kinetic experiment.  Yes, they CAN ride polo bikes and municycles in the snow. Continue reading “Snow Day!”

Hooray, SNOW!

Last night we went to bed smiling as the Who Dat Nation celebrated the Saints’ victory in Superbowl XLIV. This morning we awoke to a snow covered yard.

Really? Did hell freeze over because of a football team?!?!

Who cares? We finally have enough snow to play in! Mandy and Bryan built a snowman (Bryan’s first-ever) then they had a snowball fight and built a snow fort which, fortunately, didn’t see any action. I drove to work but didn’t stay long; I did a perfect donut in the parking lot (right in front of the surveillance camera) and was home for lunch.

The snow came down in big, fat, heavy, wet flakes and the weather oscillated between rain and snow most of the afternoon. We took a nap and then built another snowman before suppertime. The roads are ok tonight but will probably freeze over, and Bryan and Mandy already know they’re staying home again tomorrow.

Go, Mom, Go!

All week, the weather forecast has indicated that yesterday we’d get a half inch of ice topped with up to several inches of snow. We were tremendously excited. We were all off work/school on Friday, but all we got was a very disappointing half inch of frozen rain and stupidity. Which we were determined to sled on. Before breakfast, I sanded, waxed, and resanded the runners of my old sled.

After a few test runs in our neighborhood, we drove to a nearby subdivision with a good quiet hill, complete with a good ninety degree turn at the bottom.

Here’s the SleddinCam Bryan set up, because he’s cool like that. And yes, it obstructed the pilot’s view just as much as you’d think from this photo. But I didn’t care. Check out the video from that run down the hill…

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Below are some ice-covered pretties that Bryan photographed while waiting for me to walk back up, because I got waaaay farther than he did due to my superior skill at hurtling down hills. Remember, I was raised by teenaged boys. Sometimes it shows.

Unicycles on Ice

On Friday, there really wasn’t enough snow to play in, but enough sleet had fallen that the streets in our neighborhood were pretty slippery. So we thought a good idea would be to see if Mandy could ride a unicycle on it. I’m hard pressed to make this sound like a responsible parenting decision.

I think that up to now she has had the impression that she rides the uni in a straight line; this afternoon’s tracks in the snow prove otherwise.

And yeah, in retrospect, we probably should have had her wear a helmet today.

Be sure to note the noise made in this video by the still-falling sleet. It was a good day.

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