three snow days

On Sunday morning S and I woke to an empty fridge and snow already drifting down, so we bundled up, even pre-coffee, and within ten minutes were on the way to the grocery store for milk and bananas and cheese doodles, and stopped at Mr J's on the way home for an egg and cheese breakfast bagel for me and everything else they sell for breakfast at once for S. Home through the snowglobe fluffy powder, oil lamps lit, styrofoam containers full of steaming food and eventually coffee and the calm, quiet of a Sunday morning snow with nowhere to be. Later the day included short commute up the basement steps, and red wine and football and roast beef.

Monday morning we woke up to the odd sort of ice that Virginia always gets where it's too warm for straight snow and not warm enough for rain, and so every twig, branch, blade of grass is encased in ice. So were our cars, but S had the day off, even if I didn't, and he good naturedly volunteered to drive me into town, and between the two of us we chipped the solid block of ice back into something resembling a Ford Taurus and puttered in. I don't know what made work crazier--the ice, the non-delay, the start of finals week--the morning was a beast. The day was a beast. Later the day included cookies and a gift exchange and sitting in a living room with three girls I have really grown to love lately and discussing books-->discussing life-->making plans-->staying out much later than normal.

This morning instead of ice, there was a blanket of beautiful wet packing snow. And too much of it to be overruled by the importance of finals week, so the university closed for the morning. S unstuck his car and I made him text me when he made it to work safely and I sat in my robe on the couch and cried while I watched the previous night's Sing Off on hulu and then I put on boots and tramped around outside, turning my face up to catch the flakes and thinking about snowmen. I painted my fingernails gold instead. By 11:00 the snow melt was on, so I just drove the snow off my hood with my arms and inched down the driveway and into town. Everything is heavy and wet, and I'm the first one in the office so far, so I'm listening to Swan Lake and drying the cuffs of my pants and later today will certainly include chai and dripping and being helpful.