My inclination upon waking up to yet another snowfall yesterday was to shoot off some grouchy tweet about how much it sucks. (I even almost resorted to a snarky pun like “Snow way I’m doing this again.” I’m telling you–I was in a bad place.)
So trust me when I say I’m with you on this whole too-much-winter thing. The gloves, the hats (yeah, neither of those actually happen around here), the jacket-fights, the slippery walk to the snow-covered car…I’m over it. And I could’ve shouted, or at least tweeted, it to the masses.
But I resisted. Instead, I spent the day committed to finding the good in all this.
Like how my next-door neighbor routinely clears my front walk before I can even get to it–because he knows I’m stuck inside with three little ones and can’t fathom how to incorporate shoveling into our morning.
How the snowplow driver making his way down our street stops and dismounts to help me dislodge my minivan from the snow heap on which it’s now perched.
Watching the joy on my boys’ faces as they create “train tracks” in the freshly fallen snow.
How sweet my kids look in their boots.
How my three-year-old loves to hold my hand as we walk, so he doesn’t slip on the ice.
How chitchat with the store clerk over the weather becomes more than just small talk and mimics actual bonding.
How drivers are (often) more likely to wave a waiting pedestrian along, allowing them their (due) right of way.
How glorious our return to the local playgrounds will be! Like a warm reunion with a dear, old friend. I’m grateful my kids are learning, by contrast, to appreciate the beauty of a sun-filled afternoon. In the meantime, they cultivate patience, compromise, and creativity to carry them through these long winter months.
How everything inevitably s-l-o-w-s down–because you’re forced to suspend plans, embrace a snow day, or simply move through your hours more cautiously, more deliberately. The typical Tuesday rush slows to a crawl. We give our kids seconds at breakfast and pour another cup of coffee. We controlling, self-important, overly-busy humans are rendered powerless, submitting to the natural reality of our surroundings.
It’s hard to see the good. Really hard sometimes. But if you let it, cold weather can bring with it the reminder that we’re all in this together.
Perhaps the best part about the snow? It’s melting now.
Stay warm out there…
Dina L. Relles 
Don’t forget that first time you lie back, look into the endless sky, suck on the falling white stuff, and make your first snow angel…
Yes! How could I forget? What is it about eating snow that was so delightful as a kid??