Just Write {3}: First Snows

At the moment the sun is shining, but a steady breeze has been blowing clouds across the sky. Much of the day whenever I looked out the window or walked to the cafe for a tuna fish sandwich snowflakes danced in the wind. It strikes me as funny how quickly we get used to weather changes. The first snow fell just the other day, accumulating less than two inches on cars, lawns, and fallen leaves. This morning I had walked five minutes before I even noticed there was snow on the ground. The weather around here is so changeable that it takes big doings to capture our attention for long.

The other morning I had to go back into the garage to grab my snow brush. Now it sits in its usual spot on the passenger seat floor, already all but unnoticed. The mats in my car still need to be swapped to the rubber winter mats. I keep reminding my husband, but he is always either too busy or uninterested. And I’m too lazy to do it myself. Salt season starts whether you’re ready for it or not.

I haven’t finished leaf removal yet and already the stakes for the plow company have been pounded into our yard. Maybe I’ll get lucky and all of this ferocious wind we've been having day after day will blow the leaves into someone else’s yard. More likely, snow will fall and bury the leaves and I will decide they can stay where they are. Life will continue with a thin layer of leaves rotting under the snow.

The recent time change means I can barely squeeze in a walk after work before darkness falls. The colder weather makes me want to hibernate. I suffer from the lack of sunlight. It takes convincing to climb aboard the elliptical. Thank goodness I discovered I can read my Nook while using the dreadful machine. Otherwise, I’d be curled beneath my blanket, watching TV and bemoaning my sedentary lifestyle. Every year I vow not to let winter beat me. Maybe this will be the year I figure out how to win.

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This is my third installment of Just Write, "an exercise in free writing your ordinary and extraordinary moments." You can read about this project at The Extraordinary Ordinary. If you decide to participate, you can link up on Heather's post from yesterday. You can read my first two installment here and here.