Snow Day!

WOOOOO HOOOOOO! After much hair wrenching and teeth gnashing, the Johnstown School District pulled the plug on today's activities at the 11th hour (now! 8:15) just as the two hour delay was creeping up on its deadline. Allison, who stayed up way too late in anticipation of what she had determined last night would be a sure-fire snow day, has received a bone from God. She was right. The panic on her face this morning was comical, as a two hour delay was not what she was anticipating while she enjoyed facials, mani-pedis and hot tubbies into the wee hours of the morning. I know this because Jerry was up during the night and heard these activities. Once I go to sleep, I hear nothing. My children know this. The only thing that saves me is that I do wake up intermittently during the night, and once I am awake, I am WIDE awake. So it balances things out. Again, I digress.

What we awoke to is this.

Jerry is happy as a clam moving around tons of snow with his plow, and the dogs and I are adjusting to the new winter noises we are experiencing. There is no sound like the rumble of snow sliding off the metal roof, as it is intended to do. Metal roofs are pretty standard up here in the North Country, as the snow load gets pretty impressive after awhile. It is not meant to stay up there for any length of time. The rumble starts very slow, and you stop what you are doing to listen more clearly, in case what you heard was a avalanche barreling down the hill. Then it picks up speed and volume and you realize it's just the roof snow coming down. I never quite understood what the wooden shrub tents were for, when I would see them in people's yards in the winter. Now I understand. It is to protect the landscaping from roof top snow dumping. I've seen the damage that snow can do. We had a metal (metal!) lounge chair that we left on the deck last winter. When it thawed out in the spring, it was a mangled piece of garbage that had been beaten into a twisted and broken shame of a loss. I loved that lounge chair. Anyway, it's gone, and I now understand the power of snow loads. Jake and Daphne continue to freak out when it happens, and add their hysterical barking to whatever the hell is making that noise. In their minds it is threatening and frightening. But, these are the dogs who continue to bark when a doorbell rings on a TV commercial. The same commercial that has been playing (and ringing) for years. They still bark every time, as if we had a doorbell and they had been told to guard it religiously. Neither one is true. The entire northeast has been blanketed with some type of precipitation. Southerly rain, catskill region freezing rain and ice, and northern snow is sending a plethora of problems wherever it has occurred. The rain is gray and dismal so that, as Maryellen says, you must shine from within. The catskills are experiencing serious power outages and dangerous driving conditions. Here in the Adirondacks, it has just dumped another 8 - 10 inches on top of the previous snowfall, making for a really nice base for skiiers, cross country snow shoers and sleigh riders everywhere. My shoulder is not quite sleigh ready, but I am also enough of a realist to know that the 14 year old would not be joining me. Not. She has already gone back to bed. That took all of 30 seconds once the call was made. But I will be making hot chocolate and snuggling in with my best friend Daphne, and maybe we can fit in a snow-shoe walk this afternoon. Enjoy your snow-day, wherever you are.