With a little help from

Hiking sticks! Ski poles for walking! Best invention since before the wheel!

I Loved taking a walk today through the snow and ice feeling stable and supported and ready for anything! The biggest challenge was holdng on to my heart as kids came flying down the hilly streets on sleds and boards into potential traffic lanes and cross streets. Granted, there were very few vehicles (mostly UPS trucks probably delivering hiking sticks and winter gear ordered yesterday from Amazon.com!) and granted, parents were standing at the bottom of the hills to "catch" their kids - but it was still unnerving to me. What fun they were having!

There's a bit of a controversy brewing in response to an LA Times writer who charged that Seattle drivers are winter wimps. I am happy to be a wimpy woman who is smart enough to use my two feet(and my walking sticks) to get around during this weather event. My car sits happily wimpily parked.

Snow Day Today

Before I "retired" a snow day was a magical gift - an unexpected day off - nothing scheduled, nothing planned and sometimes not much in the pantry. Snow days meant a chance to play or stay in bed or make soup from whatever was in the refrigerator, a creative catch up day. Kids were out of their minds happy and usually up way before dawn to wait for the announcement, and the adults on the street got busy calling each other to offer or arrange childcare, shoveling or rides. Throughout the day everyone in the neighborhood was in touch with everyone else to learn who needed something, who had chains and would be making a run to the store. Returning to work when the roads cleared was usually bittersweet - glad to return to routine, but missing the idea of being home.

I realized today that retiredsnowday is a little like retiredmostdays with two exceptions: there is relief that I do not have to be the one making the decision to call a snow day, and two it still feels like a good day to make soup from whatever is in the refrigerator.