Snow days are gifts from the gods. Kids understand that ... and so do teachers.
They are the holidays which fall into our laps unexpectedly. We awaken to the news on CBC or we get a chain phone call at 6 a.m., or, as was the case this time, we are given a couple of days warning that we are going to be in for a big dump of snow.
Snow days mean that we can't, simply can't, get on with our normal pursuits. We are forced to take a day off from life.
The undone homework is no longer a problem. The pile of essays that has been weighing heavily on my conscience can now be marked because I have been given an uninterrupted period of time in which to mark. And ... if we are not burdened by such guilty concerns ... we can simply go out and play on our snow day.
Yesterday I canceled my Wednesday class and arranged to extend the Saturday class to include lunch, snow shoeing and a restaurant visit.
Now I am free!
This morning I got up at 6:30 as usual, filled some buckets with water "just in case", settled in at the computer with my tea, and, as the light began to dawn was able to watch the snow fall outside my window.
One window faces west into the darkness of the woods, and there the snow just filters steadily down against the darker backdrop. The other looks out on the lake to the north, and there the view is much foggier, a grey expanse against which the white snow is visible only because of its motion. I already feel as if I am snowed in ... trapped ... happily ... in my cozy nest.
I am going to make marmalade chicken breasts, bake banana cake, put the primer coat on the little table and chair, and start reading The Elegance of the Hedgehog which arrived yesterday with three other books and the DVD, Secretariat.
I watched the dvd immediately ... what a lovely break after the last two movies I endured, both about unpleasant dedicated people who left their mark on the world. I seem to prefer a horse who gives his all ... a horse that is all heart ... to people who are all head and no heart.
And maybe I will also go out and play with Kenya ... can't let a snow day be all about work ... even pleasant work like painting and cooking. And Kenya quite literally bounces when I take her out to play these days, and her enthusiasm is infectious.
How are you going to spend your snow day? I hope it will be a special day.
..the daily life of a hermit and her dog ...
River Echo
September, 2010
Welcome to Oma's World.
Welcome to Oma's world: a hermitage set on a pristine lake, nestled in mountains, surrounded by trees and inhabited by Oma, Kenya (her own dog) and the dogs she looks after.
In Oma's world there is time to see, really see, the natural landscape as it changes. When she is not outside with the dogs, Oma reads, writes and watches films. She has also returned to a lost hobby, knitting, tried pottery and felting with very limited success, and produced a great deal of funky furniture over the past year or so. She also teaches occasionally at a local language school.
Since moving to the hermitage she has discovered the secret to raising healthy house plants. They have to love their environment. We all do if we are to lead happy productive lives.
This summer she tried her hand at creating a garden, and has been consumed by it to the exclusion of most other occupations.
In Oma's world there is time to see, really see, the natural landscape as it changes. When she is not outside with the dogs, Oma reads, writes and watches films. She has also returned to a lost hobby, knitting, tried pottery and felting with very limited success, and produced a great deal of funky furniture over the past year or so. She also teaches occasionally at a local language school.
Since moving to the hermitage she has discovered the secret to raising healthy house plants. They have to love their environment. We all do if we are to lead happy productive lives.
This summer she tried her hand at creating a garden, and has been consumed by it to the exclusion of most other occupations.
My Other Blogs
Kenya
My Lady of the Lake
Some of My Regular (and Occasional) Haunts
About Me
- Oma
- ... a woman who has been many women and will likely continue to metamorphose right til the end ... I have been a mother, a grandmother, a writer, a teacher, a traveler, a nomad,a hermit, a dog sitter, and a sporadic folk artist wannabe. Right now I am also a tiny-time-chef and caterer. Who knows where my travels will lead me as I travel down the final stretch of life's road?
Blogs for Writers
Followers
Something I Noticed Recently
- "A first draft is a work of construction. A seventh is the work of an artist." Barbara Kingsolver
Kenya's Sleepover Buddies
- Peach, a gentle 5 year old Lassie-type Collie
- Oberon, King of the Cat Fairies
- Corey, a 7 year old Golden Retriever
- Kitty, AKA Button, 8 weeks
- Tom Cat, 1 year old... run over November, 2010
- Olive, the 2 year old black lab
- Chelsea, the old and lumpy black lab on steroids
- Mica, the Siberian Husky
- Maggie, the two year old Berner
- Stella, the 7 month old Bernese Mountain Dog puppy
- Tango, the Ancient Sheep Dog, now deceased
- Zeke, the Nova Scotia Duck Toller, now deceased
- Henry, Marta's Golden Retriever
- Lulu, the tiny Cockapoo puppy
- Havoc, the Doberman
- Remi, Sarah's Golden Doodle
- Tango, the Golden Lab mix
- Teddy and Shea, Tammy and Carlos' dogs
- Nina, the Chocolate Lab, now re-homed because of viciousness
Films I am Watching (reviewed are starred)
- Blood Diamond
- Amazing Grace
- Rosenstrasse
- The Blade Runner
- My Cousin Vinnie
What I am Reading These Days
- Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden
- Good to a Fault by Marina Endicott
- What They Wanted by Donna Morrissey
- Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather o'Neill
- Merle's Door: Lessons from a Free Thinking Dog by Ted Kerasote
4 comments:
Happy Snow Day, Barbara!!
I was called by my work yesterday and told they were closing the office today and not to go in. Talk about relief!
Unfortunately, I've been a bit bombarded by some sad, bad news (I'll send you an email), plus my brain feels like it's filled with cobwebs and I still feel groggy hours after waking up. So I think I'm going to set everything aside and watch a movie. Then I hope to get working on some computer volunteer work I need to be doing.
Plus, like you, I do plan to go frolic in the snow with the puppy dogs!
Alas, living in a high rise condo (22nd floor) we don't experience a snow day the same. We looked out this AM to see snow swirling horizontally around the building and filling up St. Laurent Blvd. which gets plowed quickly, it being a major artery. Our own ramps and parking lots have already been cleared once today. (It is noon.) We haven't shovelled a wiff of snow for four decades. And we park underground in a heated garage 5 levels deep. But we do not get the same cozy feeling you do of taking a day off. Sometimes life can be too easy.
John has not gone out today to paint, however -- but very eager to see what his woods will present him with tomorrow.
I love snow days! Kathleen, my lodger was called early in the morning - college closed - brilliant! Back to bed she went. I woke up to that wonderful silence that accompanies heavy snow falls. I looked out at the pristine unploughed world that is my garden and smiled with the recollected joy of my childhood. Yay it's a *snow day*.
I canceled my podiatrist appointment and spent the day in my jammies. I read, wrote birthday cards, played on my computer and briefly went outside in big tall boots over my pants.
Willy, my adventurous cat tried gingerly high stepping it over the snow. No, not good, so he walked all around my deck banister and over my window sill to get back inside. I took some winter photos and came in as well.
We ended the day with a good supper and a relaxing fire in the fireplace. Kathleen, Willy and I had a perfect winter day.
Well ... I think you may be right, Barbara. Sometimes we get all the kinks out of our lives and then it becomes a little harder to experience the excitement of a celebration!
Playing in this snow was wonderful ... light, soft, gentle ... everything ... air movement, quality of snow and air temperatures. My playing consisted of shoveling the 39 steps and going out for a walk with Kenya.
Hope you enjoyed your puppy play too, Erin. (and I know that you likely did some shoveling too ... that's the reality of rural life.)
kingmisha ... what a lovely description of a lovely lazy peace-filled day.
I made the chicken, the banana loaf, and a lentil soup ... and got the little table and chair sanded before I went out to play, by the way.
I am glad we all enjoyed our days.
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