“The weather outside is frightful… It doesn’t show signs of stopping…”
Brings to mind older times. I know this cold weather and/or “mixed winter precipitation” (Yahoo weather) is a fairly nationwide thing, but it’s certainly not the norm, not for us in the Northwest. Sure, we have the Cascade and the Olympic mountain ranges, but for the lowlands on the coastal side of the Cascades, this is simply arctic. Nice thing is we haven’t lost power. Yet. High winds are predicted, but right now, it’s pretty calm. Granted, the curtains are drawn, the blinds are down, and it’s dark outside. I’m listening to the Swing Years on KUOW. Periodically I go outside to check the temp (currently, 25 degrees and holding) and see that it is snowing.
“…pretty snowflakes, pretty snowflakes, coming down from the sky; pretty snowflakes, pretty snowflakes, hello and goodbye…” the radio chirps. Patty Page, Christmas 1959?
It began while we were out on the field trip to the mall. DD was suffering from severe cabin fever, so it was decided that we venture out before the coming storm, just to break up the monotony. We started with a much needed haircut for DS, whose hair, despite a floor littered with what was cut off, is still long. But it looks oh so much better, and he is actually happy with it. We are thinking that getting it cut more often, say once every 2-3 months might be a good thing. I can’t imagine him with short hair.
I then dropped the kids off at the mall while I picked up a couple of Christmas items for DS. Not the least of which was a cell phone. I got the Voyager. This adventure took me an hour. Thirty minutes before I arrived at the Verizon store, it began to snow. So, as it had already started coming down, and sticking (everything’s still quite cold out there), I was beginning to think about the drive home.
“So, do you want to go for the two for one deal on a new phone?” said the sales clerk. At the same time a text message was coming in from DD: “How long are you going to be? DS is hungry and he’s complaining about being cold.” “Where are you?” I pecked back. “Starbucks. Can I get him some popcorn chicken?” “Yes, please do. Just come and get the car keys from me and get his insulin case.” And to the clerk, “um, I didn’t think about that…do I have to get two of the same ones?” and so on.
As it turns out, I went for the two-fer offer, and soon DH will realize that his current phone is no longer working. That’s when I’ll need to tell him he got a new one. Wonder if we can hold that off until Christmas Eve? He hardly ever uses the damn thing. The new one is an EnV, and I like the big keys on the pad. Nice on the fingers and eyes. Perfect for him.
The Swing Years were getting too goofy, so I’ve switched to some choral music. Very nice. The Kings College Choir. This is what I remember from going to a Christmas Midnight Mass one year. There is something very comforting about being in a cathedral, listening to the resonant voice of the priest and other readers, the organ and voices of the choir. Outside it is cold, but in this moment we are all together, warm, and expectant. We listen, wait and watch, and when it is over we return to the cold and drive silently home.
This is the first year I will have missed every week of Advent. This is very unusual. Advent is when I started going to Grace, nine years ago. There would have been a time when I’d have felt a great loss. I feel some of that now, but I am more at peace with being home.
That's it for now...
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