First snow of 2014

I stepped out of the supermarket yesterday and was greeted by a flurry of big fat snowflakes (note the melting flakes in my hair). I was a bit surprised despite Maya having told me that morning it was going to snow and the brief precipitation I felt as I was walking toward the market 20 minutes earlier.

Driving home was actually my first time driving in snow, but it was no different than driving in a light drizzle since the snow wasn't sticking. I knew the storm that hit the Midwest and Northeast was pretty bad, but I didn't have any idea it would hit us in the Mid-Atlantic as bad as it did. The temperature plummeted and the snow kept right on falling ...

[After it stopped snowing, the sky and snow made the neighborhood brighter than it usually is late at night. This picture was taken without flash.]

[Waking up this morning, I was greeted by the rising sun made all the brighter by the whiteness of the snow.]

The kids were delighted that it was another Snow Day, making it a three-day weekend. I had intended to get some shopping done today but decided against going out since I'm a bit freaked out about icy roads. Instead, I spent the morning reading in bed. Despite the blue sky and sunny weather, it was a gusty morning and the wind made it "snow" again: accumulated snow from the roof and treetops was blown loose, swirling up and sideways and back again. I could see the tiny flakes in the sunlight and watching it was not only mesmerizing but calming as well.

I managed to drag Ian out of the house for a few minutes in the afternoon to go on a walk to the cemetery behind our house. I've been meaning to go for months to see what it's like on the other side of our backyard, which we can only glimpse from our bedroom window. Although it's right along a major street, it's its own little world with gravestones from the 1800s to early 1900s, some toppled over, some surprisingly new looking. Clearly, it's not visited very often (in fact, I've only seen signs of (live) human life once since we moved in six months ago) and, strange as it sounds, I just wanted to let my "neighbors" know that even though I don't know who they are, they aren't forgotten; even briefly, I think about them everyday.

The snow does that to me. Not to be punny, but seeing even a few inches of snow freezes time for me and makes me rather introspective. No deep thoughts, but it gives me the chance to pause for a moment and think about something other than myself.