Snow

Right now, outside my window, the most glorious feathery snowflakes are floating down, like someone has torn open a duvet and is shaking it furiously over our roof. The ground is white with dark patterns where footprints (and paw prints) have sunken down toward the sidewalk and asphalt; it almost reminds me of those white powdered sugar lace cakes you see in Martha Stewart magazines. Absolutely delicious.

We waited for it to come all morning. Actually, I've been waiting for it for several days, peering out the window in the middle of the night to see if a little flurry had crept in while we slept. And around noon today, it came.

Steve made a last grocery run before it started, so we are free to snuggle down inside and watch it outside our window. We crawled in bed with Gracie when it started and had a picnic lunch while we were wrapped in covers. Then I took her outside into it, and she laughed when it touched her face and kept calling it "Noh! Noh!" excitedly. When we came back in she sat in her rocker in front of the window and watched it.

And I have just been giddy all day. I feel that Christmas magic, the kind you usually only feel as a child, every time I look out the window. Whenever I see a good flurry I slide into my shoes and run back out into it to watch it land on my bright green coat and feel it settle on my hair and brush my eyelashes. I can't help it. I haven't seen snow since I was a little older than Grace. It has been on my list of Things to Do Before I Turn 30 (Stand in falling snow--CHECK!). I didn't know until now what it looked like, sounded like, felt like, tasted like. I'd never seen a real snowflake up close, until just a few minutes ago (I took a writing break from you to go stand in it again) when they started peppering my coat. I just told Steve, I could stand in it for hours if it wasn't so darn cold. I love it; I feel like I'm in a movie. I would spin in it if I wasn't in front of so many other people's windows. :) Maybe when its darker, just me and the snow.

Other people have responded in different ways. Some people are pretty ticked off about it--I get that. I mean, its not exactly convenient. But I find it breathtaking. I've witnessed several snowball fights in the parking lot--some between kids, some between grown-ups--and I kind of can't wait to get back out in it.

We have big plans for tonight. They include a ton of blankets, hot cocoa, a rental of Elf, and a background of soft, billowy snow that even Bing would be proud of.

Merry Christmas.