Snoooowww!!!

There is nothing like a snow day. Especially for a dog. Stanley LOVES snow, he leaps and dives in the snow, coming up covered in the stuff. We ran outside in the morning when we saw some neighbors walking by with their dogs, so they could play a little in the alley. No worries that a car could come.
Our street is virtually undrivable, the parked cars are covered halfway up the doors, and that is before the plow piles more on. Snowdays like this happen very infrequently in Chicago. We do not get nearly as much snow here I we did growing up on the other side of the lake, Midwesterners put down there heads and bear through most snow storms and the city is fully equiped to handle large amounts of snow. So waking up this morning to large drifts (the one by the garage is five feet tall!), and hearing that the city had grounded to a halt the night before was a little surreal. The radio hosts on NPR were playing old stories to fill in for other hosts that couldn't make it in to work.

So our day becomes marked with shoveling. Mike shovels, has breakfast as the snow continues to fall. Then before lunch goes out and shovels again. Mid-afternoon a walk and more shovelling. Time for hot chocolate, tea and cookies. It all makes me long for the days of Little House on the Prairie, which always makes the winter sound like an idyllic time, as long as everyone is safe inside!

But here in Chicago in 2011, we get only a day of respite, of winter wonderland before we have to return to our go, go, go lives. But for the moment I'm just trying to live in the moment. Lucky Stanley has no problem with that, he is loving every minute.