October 30, 2011
I was sitting in the passenger seat of Em's car yesterday, as she was driving herself to work, she casually remarked that we were supposed to get somewhere around 20 cms of snow today.
Hmmmm.
Knowing that I absolutely detest the first snow storm of the year, she could have been pranking me.
Our Em is known to have a sense of humour.
At times.
So I kept calm on the outside, but inside my brain went into hyperdrive as I thought about all the things that needed to be done before the first flake even contemplated making its groundward journey.
Lawnmower and weedwacker had to be put in the basement. All outdoor plants had to be brought into the warmth of the house. Leaves, oh my gawd. We hadn't even started raking leaves and now we may have to bring out shovels???????? What about the snow tires? Neither car has any on at this moment. Guess I'll be getting groceries this evening instead of waiting for Sunday afternoon, because we're gonna need provisions if we are snowed in? Where is the car wiper-off thingy? Wait! We're hosting Quaker meeting tomorrow morning? I'll proceed as usual until I think someone's in danger. . . . .
But on the outside I was calm.
As soon as she exited the car and I drove home in a panic, ran into the house, threw myself in front of the tv, remote in hand and turned immediately to theweathernetwork.ca to see if Em was indeed teasing me.
Or if we really were getting snow.
I called Stephen into the living room to witness the event that may well indicate the beginning of the winter season.
Em wasn't joking.
20 cms of snow.
Well, f***!
And then I shared my panic with Stephen.
Who assured me that everything would be okay.
An unusual reversal of roles.
And clearly a genetic flaw passed on from my mother to me.
My mother, who hated winter like no one else I'd ever met.
Until me.
It never bothered me until recently.
As I get older, it would seem that my ability and willingness to tolerate winter is decreasing exponentially.
The idea of getting into the car and frolicking with drivers who have no idea how to drive with the roads are brimming with ice and snow, or who think that ice is merely a way of getting to work faster just isn't how I see the joys of winter.
Plus I just really detest being cold.
When I awoke this morning the first thing my still sleep infused body did was check outside to see how bad it was.
Luckily, not too bad at all.
But the radio weather report that we were treated to at 9.00 am when the alarm kicked in announced that we were still under a snowfall warning for 10-15 cms.
So I'll just watch and wait and wonder if at some point the snow is going to come down as if someone turned on a faucet.
Not all was winter panic yesterday.
I was asked to judge the Student Union's Halloween festival events, which included pumpkin carving, costumes and scary story competitions.
Along with two other judges, we engaged in an American Idol like experience.
Except we were much nicer.
The costumes were amazing, the pumpkins were creative and the scary stories had several students in the audience refusing to ever go into Vanier Hall again.
Unfortunately, there weren't many entrants.
Which was too bad because those who were there were phenomenal.
And if more people and pumpkins had of entered, I could have been there much longer than an hour and a half.
As soon as I arrived home I grabbed my gardening gloves and a rake and began the process of raking the mountains of leaves off our lawn and bagging them.
I love raking.
Mindless, quiet, no pressure about how well you're raking and if your piles are bigger than anyone else's piles.
Just rake, bag, tie and repeat the process until the leaves are gone.
I didn't rake until everything was collected.
That would imply time was unlimited.
And as it was a Saturday, that would be an erroneous assumption.
So I raked until 4.00 pm.
At which time it was off to the nursing home for me for my weekly fare of baked beans and brown bread, with a bowl of fruit salad for dessert.
I hadn't seen Mum last weekend because I was sick and while the nursing home is very accommodating, they dislike when you bring your germs, infections, coughing, hacking into their facility to frolic happily in the bodies of their residences.
Meaning I had to go see her yesterday.
Her face is looking a lot better, but still black and blue in several places.
We had a lovely visit, along with my father, but at 6.30 I had to leave for supplies.
By the time Stephen and I arrived home with our car laden with supplies, put everything away and got the house ready for Quaker meeting this morning, I was more than ready to sit down in my chair and fall asleep.
I woke up on my side of the bed this morning, Frankie curled up beside me, not knowing at all how I got there.
I hate starting the day like that.
There's already enough I can't predict or account for.
At least I should know how I got into bed.
Title Lyric: Once in a Lifetime by The Talking Heads
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