“And finally Winter, with its bitin’, whinin’ wind, and all the land will be mantled with snow.”

The wind won’t go away. It is even stronger than the last few days, but it’s a bit warmer at 49°. Yesterday I heard someone complaining about the cold. I guess all those November days in the mid-50’s spoiled us, but we’ll survive. We all know about winter in New England.

Today is errand day, and I have a huge list geographically organized. My cards got done last night, according to schedule, so the post office is first on my list. Gracie will be glad as the dump is second.

I remember when I was a kid and the first snow of the season would start to fall. When one of us noticed the flakes, we’d all run to the window and watch. In front of my house, at the bottom of the front grassy hill, was a street light. We’d watch the snow falling in the gleam of the light. I remember the snow sometimes fell sideways because of the wind. If the flakes were really large, we never held out much hope for a lot of snow. If the flakes were smaller, there was always hope. Snow storms were judged on school or no school and whether there was enough for a snowman and a snowball fight.

When I woke up, I’d run to the window to see how much snow had fallen. If there was enough for a no school day, the fire horn would blow early in the morning. If there wasn’t enough, it meant wearing boots which took forever to get on and off at school. Sometimes my shoe would be caught by the boot, and I’d try to shake it loose. I always thought it was funny to walk with the boot hanging and my foot still in the shoe. I felt a bit like a duck must feel with its webbed feet. The key, we all learned when we were a little older, was to take out your foot then pull out your shoes and then do the reverse in the afternoon. It was a bit harder getting our feet into the shoes already in the boots, but it was far easier than trying to shove the foot filled shoe into the rubber boot which never seemed to dry during the school day.

I remember the days which had snow on the ground were the brightest of all winter days. When the snow was high and there were no footprints yet, everything was beautiful, and the snowflakes shined and glimmered like diamonds in the sun. It always warmer on those days.

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9 Comments on ““And finally Winter, with its bitin’, whinin’ wind, and all the land will be mantled with snow.””

  1. Caryn Says:

    Hi Kat,

    Big flakes, small storm. Small flakes, big storm.
    No flakes is best, though. 🙂

    Errand day part two for me. Finishing up the stuff I couldn’t get around to yesterday. Rocky will be happy as we may go to the lake. If it’s too windy and cold, we won’t stay long.

    Enjoy the day.

    • Kat Says:

      Hi Caryn,
      That’s what my mother always said about the snow.

      Today was so hectic getting the errands done. The Cape is easy in a straight line but to skip a town to get to another is horrendous. It took us three hours. Gracie took a nap.

      So glad to be home!

  2. olof1 Says:

    We never got any snow but lots of rain. This storm is much worse than the previous ones we’ve had here and it’ll continue tomorrow as well they say.

    I did like to look at the flakes falling down in the light from the big lamp in the yard, but I never liked to get out to it 🙂
    They never closed schools when I was young just because it snowed a lot. They do nowdays though. I wish they could close down factories because of snowfall 🙂 🙂 🙂

    Have a great day!
    Christer.

    • Kat Says:

      Hello Christer,
      It was a good day here today, even got to the 50’s. Not many people out when I was doing errands.

      I loved to play in the snow but now I love sitting and watching as it falls. I turn on the outside light so I can keep track of the amount falling.

      Last year there wasn’t much snow. This has been a warm winter so far so I don’t know what will happen.

  3. Bob Says:

    When I was a teenager in NYC we would go to school regardless of the snow. I think they would hold classes in a blizzard. In Dallas they cancel everything when the first flakes fall. As a result of last year’s Super Bowl both Dallas and Ft.Worth have purchased snow plows. Thsse are attachments to dump trucks not real plows.

    I am waiting for my flight to Hong Kong which is two and a half hours late. They have free WiFi here at teh San Francisco Airport. Surprisingly I couldn’t find a resturant at the airport that served Dungeness crab. Lot’s of Chinese and Japanese places.

    • Kat Says:

      Bob,
      There are so many school buses here that they won’t risk it when the snow is deep. One year we got 36 inches in a single storm and were out of school a week because it took so long to clear the roads and the school parking lots.

      I’m always glad for my iPad and books if the plane is late but yours seems considerably late. Is San Francisco noted for Dungeness crab?

  4. Zoey & Me Says:

    I remember watching for snow flakes hoping there would be no school the next day. That’s what was important to us.

    • Kat Says:

      Z&Me,
      It was important to us too. I remember getting up, running to the window and see olny a little snow. I was always so disappointed.


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