Some of you are old enough to remember the blizzard of 1978. I was a midwesterner then, a young one. Indiana to be more specific. Northeastern corner to be precise. If I remember correctly, we missed the all-time record number of days of school and in Indiana, at least at that time, school started on one day and ended on another. No exceptions, which meant we never had to make up the days. As a rural kid, heaven.
My family would rise in the dark and turn on the radio, waiting. The announcer would begin listing the school closures and my brother and sister and I would anxiously wait. Those magic words would float across the air and I knew it was another day of bundled up, snowy chaos on the grounds of our country life. No to school. Yes to snowball fights, frozen fingers and tongues out waiting for flakes.
It’s been snowing for twenty-four hours here in Santa Fe. Somewhere around five inches if I had to guess. Warm air, wet snow. Thick, atypical beauty and the silence that always prevails when the Earth turns cold. Lone birds drifting on lonely thermals, their prey easy to spot by fresh tracks and tone on white on white on white.
The city is quiet, toned down and sedentary as pinon smoke hangs in the shallows and parking lots sit empty. Peaks in whiteout mode. A student scrapes a windshield as they warm the engine. Dogs with crusted white beards stand motionless with busts of frozen breath darting ahead. Strangers pass and we just smile. Nothing needs to be said.
Comments 10
Looks pretty good. I hope there’s a cup of hot chocolate or good coffee behind all that snow.
(Hey all you Shifter Media followers – any of you have a favorite method for following blogs? I’ve tried a few apps in the past, but I wasn’t great about sticking with them. I know I’ve lost track of some of the blogs I follow, and I don’t want that to happen.)
PS – I reopened the Feedly app on my laptop. Deleted some bloat. I think if I try to make checking that a routine, it will do pretty well. It confuses me sometimes. For example, I went to add Dan’s website – I entered shifter.media and it found it straight away. I tried to add my website – http://www.sbhopper.com – and it couldn’t find it. I’m not sure why. I went to my site, went past the landing page, and to the blog, copied and pasted that URL, and it worked. Oh the internet.
If you blog regularly, and it’s not just talking about gear, let me know where you’re at, I’d love to follow.
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Scott,
Remember, technology makes life easier…
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Scott,
Oh ya. What is life without coffee?
We just had a snow day on Wednesday, up here on the West Coast in Vancouver! It’s a lovely pause to the regular schedule. and getting out and about by foot in fresh snow is SO fun! Enjoy!
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Ada,
I managed to slip on the ice. I didn’t fall but I did something to my back that was so painful it took my breath away. I’m still in pain but oh well, live and learn.
I love the snow, always have, always will! I keep trying to talk my wife into moving up to Hokkaido but she won’t budge. She hates the cold!
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Kurt,
I’m learning to love the seasons. Just hiked in 45 degrees, sunny, in a t-shirt.
I am so glad to be back in a part of the country that gets snow in winter…crazy, I know…but it is nice to have four distinct seasons (usually)…
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Paul,
Makes one appreciate the fleeting aspects of seasonal change. My cycling has almost entirely stopped as I’m getting up to temps in the teens and my skinny ass isn’t ready for that. So, I adapt. Having said that, I’m heading south next week and will be on the bike for sure. Go Packers.