by jphilo | Jan 6, 2015 | Top Ten Tuesday
10. A white, unbroken blanket of snow is so lovely.
9. Life feels cozy when it’s snowing outside, the dishwasher and washing machine are running, and I’m sitting in a chair writing.
8. This year’s first big snowstorm didn’t hit until January, which means this winter won’t be as long as it could be.
7. A snowstorm means evening activities are cancelled, so there’s nothing to do but to download and watch the Downton Abbey Season 5 premiere.
6. After a month of Camp Dorothy, which just ended Sunday evening, it’s nice to have a guilt-free reason to stay home this Tuesday instead of going to visit Mom.
5. I can imagine trying to teach children, tired from Christmas break and excited about the snow, instead of teaching them.
4. This snowstorm affirms our decision to by an all-wheel drive Subaru in November instead of waiting until spring as originally planned.
3. This snowstorm granted the Man of Steel’s wish to test the Subaru on winter roads…and he was delighted with the way it handled.
2. Our daughter and son-in-law beat the storm and arrived at their home in Madison, Wisconsin safely.
1. On a day when our daughter-in-law was in labor, our daughter and her husband raced home ahead of the weather so they could pack and move, the sibs and I were going a little crazy attending to details related to Mom’s upcoming move, and the page proofs for Every Child Welcome arrived, a snowstorm seemed like a fitting metaphor for our family’s life. And when the storm ended, God used it to remind me that our stormy day would pass, too, replaced by beauty. In this case, the beauty of a brand new granddaughter, born just after midnight this morning.
by jphilo | Feb 28, 2012 | Out and About
After a long day of travel to points south, I’ve come to the following conclusions:
- Nothing beats leaving your coat in the car when your nephew drops you off at the Minneapolis airport as the first flakes of an oncoming snowstorm fall around you.
- When your seat is behind four midwestern, middle-aged women waaay pumped about flying to Florida in February, their enthusiasm is not contagious. Not to you or to the lone, long suffering, elderly man sitting in their row.
- Traveling with your sister, brother-in-law and husband means you never have to freshen up alone, but there’s always someone to watch the luggage while you do.
- If airplane seats get much smaller, average-sized Americans will need to double book to fit in them.
- Yes, I am the woman from the Atlanta airport who plunged through the subway doors as they were closing. But only for the good of our entire party. What would they have done if we’d gotten separated? Who would have gotten them lost then?
- Savannah, Georgia is lovely, even when you arrive after dark. Especially when you don’t need a jacket.
- After a day of travel, I’m a blithering idiot. Time to sign off. Good night, y’all.
by jphilo | Dec 15, 2011 | Three Thoughts for Thursday
Only three weeks until the kids arrive to celebrate Christmas, and there’s no snow in the yard and no presents under the tree. As soon as I think three thoughts for Thursday, maybe I should order a snow making machine or start wrapping presents…whichever is easier, that is.
- How can a robo call about “a very important message about your credit card account” be all that important? If it was, wouldn’t a real person be on the line?
- After a day spent sprucing up Mom’s old metal stool, I’m wondering why anyone huffs spray paint.
- To whoever invented the chocolate used for dipping pretzels and Ritz cracker and peanut butter sandwiches…you had a much better idea than whoever invented spray paint for covering old metal stools.
How about you? What’s on your mind this Christmas season? Leave a comment!
by jphilo | Dec 7, 2010 | Daily Life
Our son said they got 12 inches of snow right before the weekend. I looked out the window at our brown, dead grass untouched by winter snow. With superhuman restraint, swallowed the tee-hee-hee rising in my throat, and bit my tongue to avoid shouting “Sucker!” to our Minnesota boy.
The phone call got me thinking about what our weather was like a year ago today. When I read this blog entry from December 4, 2009 and yelled, “Yes!” And don’t think I’m going to wipe the grin off my smirking face. It’s hanging right where it is from now until the first scoopable snowfall. You might grin too, once you read this weather report from a year ago today.
Sunshine Addicts, Unite!
For weeks I’ve been in denial about the arrival of winter. Above average November temps helped me ignore my sunshine cravings as the days got shorter and shorter. My enablers, who meant well but have left me in a terrible fix, were the brave little violas in the garage flower garden and the optimistic snapdragons and dianthus blooming near the foundation of our sun porch.
But when it snowed yesterday and the temperatures plummeted into the teens last night, I went into a major withdrawal. Spiders on the wall, pink elephants, tremors – you name it, I’ve got it – and believe me, it’s no way to live. Therefore, I’ve decided to join a twelve step program. It’s time to admit the truth or I won’t make it through the winter.
I’m a fair weather friend. I mainline sunshine and warm temperatures on a daily basis for nine months of the year, and I need to stop. I need help to make it through the winter, more than watching Elvis, Annette Funicello, Donavon and Gidget frolic at the beach. Vicarious sunshine on a grainy DVD doesn’t even touch my cravings anymore, and with two kids getting married soon there’s no money for week long sunshine fix in Cancun this year.
However, I can’t do this alone. I need the support of others struggling with sunshine and warmth addictions and the encouragement of former users. We need to band together and meet every week in a dingy church basement. We can all bring our seasonal affective disorder happy lamps and bask in a greenish glow while we eat lots of dark chocolate to boost our antioxidants.
If you’re ready to admit your sunshine addiction and find help, leave a comment or send me an email. Won’t it be wonderful to be free and able to live normal lives again? Together we can make it happen. I know we can.
Sunshine addicts, unite!
by jphilo | Mar 15, 2010 | Daily Life
I’m back from a road trip to Morgantown, West Virginia with my daughter and her fiance. The trek across the midsection of our great country in one of the two most dismal months of the year (November being the other) confirmed my belief that March is a tease at best and at worst, a flirt.
On the trip east, the ditches strained under the weight of tired and dirty snowdrifts. They gradually gave way to their southern cousins, grass-matted and dotted with ragged, soggy litter. A little green peeked out, and suddenly the month looked less tired, more alluring. For a few hours we perked up, thinking we’d left winter behind. But our good humor plummeted as we climbed into the Appalachians, and snow filled the ditches again.
During our week in Morgantown, spring decided to strut her stuff. For a few days, the sun was hot on our backs, and we turned on the air conditioner in the car. Spring flirted so shamelessly that the snow piles shrank too quickly, and the rivers started rising. We left town the same day the rain hit, before the flooding began.
On the way home, that little minx of a March again hid under a blanket of brown ditches, gray skies, swollen creeks, and puddled fields. Once in awhile she flashed a little green on southern hillsides, red in the dogwood hedges and yellow in the willow groves, titillating and arousing within us a desire for pussy willows and warm earth, daffodils and green grass. But never did she stay and satisfy our hunger.
Her playing around put me in a bad mood, and all I can say is, “March, you little flirt, you’re ruining your reputation. Either straighten up and deliver what you promised in the next two weeks, or I’m leaving you for April.”
You just watch. It works every time.
