Snow Day!!

Remember when the words "Snow Day" conjured up thoughts of adventure? You got a reprieve from going to school, and the day with nothing to do stretched invitingly in front of you, plans of sledding, four-wheeling and hunting running through your head?

Ah, those days are long in the past of Nebraska Outback. But I fondly remember the days when the house would fill with boys making their plans for the days' adventure. Pockets filled with shotgun shells; coats, hats, gloves, mittens, socks, boots flung from closets in the effort to find enough warm things to wear for the day; rummaging through the shop to find the sleds and inner tubes for sledding; the roar of the four wheel drive vehicles and four-wheelers plowing through the snow drifts in the driveway.

Stepping in puddles of melted snow with my sock-clad feet; the dryer constantly running in hopes of being ready for the next foray out into the weather; losing the never-ending battle of mud, dirt, duck feathers and blood being tracked through the house.

My Snow Days are much quieter now. I take pictures of the snow. Here is the front porch at 8:30 this morning.

The house and yard at 8:30 a.m.
The road in front of the house at 8:30 a.m.

Laughing at the exploits of the silly cat. Even though I recently heard the results of a study that indicated that cats spent 22% of their time looking out windows and only 6% of their time sleeping, I don't believe it to be true of this particular feline. I report 50 to 75% of his/her time is spent sleeping. It's definition of "lap top" is cat, not computer, and it has the claws to back up it's assertion.

The front porch at 12:30 p.m.

The house and yard at 12:30 p.m.

The road in front of our house at 12:30 p.m.

There's a bit of snow out there, but I don't know if it's going to get quite as bad as some of the forecasts have predicted. It tapers off periodically, but what's on the ground is light and fluffy, and the wind is picking up, so traveling could still get a little dicey.

So I recommend staying indoors. Reading through the latest issue of Nebraska Life magazine. Of course, I have found time to catch up on all of those little projects I brought home from work. Blogging, tweeting, facebooking, updating the CVB website... all to keep me from thinking about how quiet the house is, and how much I miss when it was filled with noise and mess and activity on Snow Days.

Snuggling up in front of the warm fire. And yes, I'll admit I did slip into the hot tub for awhile this morning after the first round of snow shoveling.

Right now I'm enjoying a nice cup of hot chocolate (not even spiced with peppermint schnapps... yet), remembering when I used to have to make it by the pot full, not by the cup.

Thanks for stopping by. The coffee, or hot chocolate as you please, is always on.